Cited by 1,267Social Capital and NetworksCultural Differences and ValuesSocial Policy and Reform Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 67 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Predicting Cross-National Levels of Social Trust: Global Pattern or Nordic Exceptionalism?

Delhey, Jan, Newton, Kenneth·2005·European Sociological Review

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

This analysis of variations in the level of generalized social trust (defined here as the belief that others will not deliberately or knowingly do us harm, if they can avoid it, and will look after our interests, if this is possible) in 60 nations of the world shows that trust is an integral part of a tight syndrome of social, political and economic conditions. High trust countries are characterized by ethnic homogeneity, Protestant religious traditions, good government, wealth (gross domestic product per capita), and income equality. This combination is most marked in the high trust Nordic countries but the same general pattern is found in the remaining 55 countries, albeit in a weaker form. Rural societies have comparatively low levels of generalized trust but large-scale urban societies do not. Cause and effect relations are impossible to specify exactly but ethnic homogeneity and Protestant traditions seem to have a direct impact on trust, and an indirect one through their consequences for good government, wealth and income equality. The importance of ethnic homogeneity also suggests that the difference between particularized and generalized trust may be one of degree rather than kind.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/esr/jci022

Cites

62 of 62 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

The Strength of Weak Ties
Granovetter, M. S. (1973) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/225469 · Cited by 40,491
Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community
(2000) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.38-2454 · Cited by 28,723
Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy
(1993) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.30-6408 · Cited by 14,338
Human Development Report
Church, J. A. (2001) · Journal of Government Information · doi:10.1016/s1352-0237(01)00307-0 · Cited by 9,208
Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation
Knack, S., & Keefer, P. (1997) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355300555475 · Cited by 7,484
The quality of government
La Porta, R. (1999) · Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization · doi:10.1093/jleo/15.1.222 · Cited by 5,699
Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies
Inglehart, R. (1997) · doi:10.1515/9780691214429 · Cited by 5,392
Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies
Fukuyama, F., & Inglehart, R. (1997) · Foreign Affairs · doi:10.2307/20048045 · Cited by 4,817
The Sociology of Georg Simmel
Kilzer, E., & Wolff, K. H. (1950) · The American Catholic Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/3707052 · Cited by 4,549
Trust as a Social Reality
Lewis, J. D., & Weigert, A. (1985) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2578601 · Cited by 4,163

Show all 67 references

Research works printed but not linked: 5

Bellah, R. , Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M. and Tipton, S. M. (1985). Habits of the Heart. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Helliwell, J. F. (2003). Immigration and social capital: Issue paper. Paper given to the Conference on The Opportunity and Challenge of Diversity: A Role for Social Capital? Montreal, Canada, November 2003 (http://policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=OECD_Background).
Misztal, B. A. (1996). Trust in Modern Societies. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Rokeach, M. , Smith, P. W. and Evans, R. I. (1960). Two kinds of prejudice or one? In Rockeach, M. (Ed.) The Open and the Closed Mind: Investigations into the Nature of Belief Systems and Personality Systems. New York: Basic Books, pp. 132–168.
Weingast, B. (1998). Constructing trust: the political and economic roots of ethnic and regional violence. In Haufler, V., Soltan, K. and Uslaner, E. (Eds.) Where is the New Institutionalism Now? Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 163–200.

Sorted by citations

Items 601–700 of 1,000

Financialization, religion, and social trust in rural China
Yin, W., Kirkulak-Uludag, B., & Matthews, K. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240114 · Cited by 9
“In another study, Delhey and Newton [36] suggest that income inequality erodes social trust among people.”
Background
Diversity–development nexus: Why determine economic development without diversity? A comparative analysis between developed and developing countries
Amin, S. (2021) · Society and Business Review · doi:10.1108/sbr-01-2020-0007 · Cited by 9
Quality of Government and Social Trust
Dinesen, P. T., & Sønderskov, K. M. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198858218.013.26 · Cited by 11
A Distinct Society? Understanding Social Distrust in Quebec
Bridgman, A., Nadeau, R., & Stolle, D. (2021) · Canadian Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s0008423921000780 · Cited by 9
“Socio-economic resources also matter, with low socio-economic status consistently related to lower levels of trust (Uslaner, 2002; Delhey and Newton, 2003, 2005).”
Background
Consumers’ Trust in Different Sources of Information Related to Food Hazards and Their Judgment of Government Performance—A Cross-Sectional Study in Brazil
Rembischevski, P., & Caldas, E. D. (2023) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods12173285 · Cited by 9
“Nordic countries’ institutions enjoy the highest trust levels in the world, while levels are persistently low in South America and other developing countries, and the USA and Western European countries are in an intermediate position [21,37].”
Background
Images of Europeans: transnational trust and support for European integration
Genna, G. M. (2015) · Journal of International Relations and Development · doi:10.1057/jird.2015.9 · Cited by 9
“Researchers have demonstrated empirically that individuals find it easier to trust similar people than dissimilar ones (Alesina and La Ferrara 2002; Delhey and Newton 2005; Leigh 2006).”
Ethnic diversity, out-group contacts and social trust in a high-trust society
Loxbo, K. (2017) · Acta Sociologica · doi:10.1177/0001699317721615 · Cited by 9
“Drawing on this ‘communitarian’ conceptualisation, it makes sense to expect increasing ethnic diversity to erode collective norms and undermine social trust for all people in a context (Delhey and Newton, 2005: 312).”
BackgroundInfluential
Economic crisis and social trust: Reviewing the effects of economic polarisation on social and institutional confidence
Robles, D. T., Fontanella, J. C., & Bolancé, C. (2019) · Social Science Information · doi:10.1177/0539018419891321 · Cited by 9
“There is robust evidence indicating that generalised trust (that is, truth among unrelated people) is associated with economic equality and fair opportunities (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Nannestad, 2008; Uslaner, 2002; Rothstein & Uslaner, 2005).”
Background
Social trust - The Nordic Gold?
Holmberg, S. (2020) · Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive (Gothenburg University) · Cited by 9
Playing nice in the sandbox: On the role of heterogeneity, trust and cooperation in common-pool resources
van Klingeren, F. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0237870 · Cited by 9
Place matters: government capacity, community characteristics, and social capital across United States counties
McCall, J., Bussing, A., Hoyman, M., & Paarlberg, L. E. (2020) · Journal of Public Policy · doi:10.1017/s0143814x20000227 · Cited by 8
“As noted in many studies on the determinants of social capital, causal relationships are usually ambiguous (Bjørnskov 2007; Delhey and Newton 2005).”
Background
Social trust as an individual characteristic or societal property?
Kim, S. H., & Kim, S. (2020) · International Review of Public Administration · doi:10.1080/12294659.2020.1834677 · Cited by 10
“(Delhey & Newton, 2005; Paxton, 1999, 2007; Uslaner, 2002).”
BackgroundInfluential
The Experiential Basis of Social Trust Towards Ethnic Outgroup Members
Thomsen, J. P. F., Fenger, J., & Jepsen, N. R. (2020) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-020-02526-1 · Cited by 9
What do we have faith in? – a comparative study on trust and performance appraisal practices in French and German MNE-subsidiaries
Bacouël-Jentjens, S., & Yang, I. (2021) · The International Journal of Human Resource Management · doi:10.1080/09585192.2021.1954682 · Cited by 9
“By considering trust as something based on how people evaluate the society they live in (Delhey & Newton, 2005), Fukuyama (1996) conceptualizes high societal trust as the result of shared values found in groups whose members have a high level of association and cooperative behavior.”
Background
The Trade Effect of Trust: Evidence from Agricultural Trade between China and Its Partners
Chen, H., & Qi, C. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14020729 · Cited by 9
Perceptions of Trust in the Context of Social Cohesion in Selected Rural Communities of South Africa
Khaile, F., Roman, N. V., October, K. R., et al. (2022) · Social Sciences · doi:10.3390/socsci11080359 · Cited by 9
In NATO We Trust(?): The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and EU27 Citizens’ Trust in NATO
Economou, A., & Kollias, C. (2023) · Peace Economics Peace Science and Public Policy · doi:10.1515/peps-2023-0029 · Cited by 9
“Institutional trust also involves trust towards international and intergovernmental organizations such as the UN, the EU and NATO (inter alia: Arpino and Obydenkova 2020; Dellmuth and Tallberg 2015; Harteveld, Meer, and Vries 2013; Kiratli 2022; Schlipphak 2015).”
Background
Trusting, Happy, Religious, and Giving: Explaining Volunteering in the Context of Nordic Exceptionalism
Grizzle, C., & Yusuf, J. (2015) · Journal of Civil Society · doi:10.1080/17448689.2015.1117230 · Cited by 9
“Following previous studies (see, e.g. Delhey & Newton, 2005; Wollebæk & Selle, 2007), we treat the countries as one block of countries and assume that the same conceptual framework linking social capital to volunteering applies across all the Nordic countries.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Resilience in small towns: an analysis of economic shocks, social capital, and quality of life
Recker, N. L. (2009) · doi:10.31274/etd-180810-1675 · Cited by 9
Trust as a Factor of Subjective Life SatisfactionPreprint
Миронова, А. А. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2674119 · Cited by 10
The Surprising Ingredients of Swedish Success – Free Markets and Social CohesionPreprint
Sanandaji, N. (2012) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3918437 · Cited by 9
Social Trust
Verducci, S., & Schröer, A. (2009) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_68 · Cited by 10
Political freedom and financial inclusion: Unraveling social trust and political rent-seeking
Ma, Y., Ding, Y., Bu, Z., & Li, S. (2024) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2024.01.024 · Cited by 8
Power or opportunity? Perceived inequality on life satisfaction explained by reduced trust in South Korea
Park, J., & Joshanloo, M. (2024) · Asian Journal Of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/ajsp.12617 · Cited by 8
Everything for the people, but trust? Exploring the link between populist attitudes and social trust in Italy, Portugal, and Spain
Marcos-Marné, H., & Sendra, M. (2024) · Swiss Political Science Review · doi:10.1111/spsr.12608 · Cited by 10
Estimating mechanisms linking relative income to self-rated health by multilevel modeling: the moderating role of healthcare access and quality index
Zheng, J., Zhang, T., & Wang, X. (2025) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-025-22783-4 · Cited by 8
“Traditionally, the survey item “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?” has served as a common indicator of generalized trust [46, 47].”
Social networks of trust based on social values: An explanation of curvilinear relationships between generalized trust and democracy
Sudo, N. (2017) · Journal of Mathematical Sociology · doi:10.1080/0022250x.2017.1387857 · Cited by 8
“In fact, a homogeneous society sharing common social values (authoritarian or democratic) will be able to realize high political stability and will achieve a high level of generalized trust (Delhey & Newton, 2005).”
Background
Spatial geographies, socio-demographic factors and social trust in women's organisations in Africa
Oboro-Offerie, R. A., & Busia, K. A. (2022) · Women s Studies International Forum · doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2022.102593 · Cited by 8
Religiöse Diversität und Sozialintegration im internationalen Vergleich
Traunmüller, R. (2013) · KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie · doi:10.1007/s11577-013-0233-6 · Cited by 8
Social Trust, Quality of Government and Ethnic Diversity: An Empirical Analysis of 206 Regions in Europe
Charron, N., & Rothstein, B. (2014) · Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive (Gothenburg University) · Cited by 8
The Economic Dimension of Social Trust
Mularska‐Kucharek, M., & Brzeziński, K. (2017) · European Spatial Research and Policy · doi:10.1515/esrp-2016-0012 · Cited by 8
The contextual‐level effects of social trust on health in transitional countries: Instrumental variable analysis of 26 countries
Habibov, N., & Cheung, A. (2017) · The International Journal of Health Planning and Management · doi:10.1002/hpm.2427 · Cited by 8
Egalitarianism Under Siege? Swedish Refugee Reception and Social Trust
Hansen, K. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59791-1_12 · Cited by 8
Tillit til velferdstjenester?
Früh, E. A., Lidén, H., & Kvarme, L. G. (2017) · Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning · doi:10.18261/issn.2464-3076-2017-03-02 · Cited by 8
Influences on trust during collaborative forest governance: a case study from Haida Gwaii
Hotte, N., Wyatt, S. W., & Kozak, R. A. (2018) · Canadian Journal of Forest Research · doi:10.1139/cjfr-2018-0222 · Cited by 11
“…happiness; anxiety Delhey and Newton (2003) Ethnic homogeneity; Protestant religious traditions; good government; wealth; income equality Delhey and Newton (2005) Incidental emotions (happiness, gratitude, anger) Dunn and Schweitzer (2005) Developmental experiences; personality type;…”
Background
The moderating role of Internet use in the relationship between China’s internal migration and generalized trust
Lu, H.-Y., & Kandilov, I. T. (2020) · Information, Communication & Society · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2020.1850840 · Cited by 9
Social Trust, Religiosity, and Self-Rated Health in the Context of National Religious Pluralism
Upenieks, L., & Orfanidis, C. (2021) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01380-w · Cited by 8
“Delhey and Newton (2005) find no influence of religious pluralism on trust.”
Background
Nordmenn stolte på myndighetenes informasjon og tiltak i starten av koronapandemien
Sætrevik, B., Bærøe, K., Carlsen, B., & Bjørkheim, S. B. (2021) · Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning · doi:10.18261/issn.2464-3076-2021-02-06 · Cited by 8
Views on “Good English” and “Nordic Exceptionalism” in Finland
Peterson, E. (2022) · Frontiers in Communication · doi:10.3389/fcomm.2022.803922 · Cited by 8
“However, research on the topic indicates that the term began circulating in academic circles in perhaps the early 2000s; (see, e.g. Delhey and Newton, 2005). set of ideologies relates to colonial exceptionalism.”
Background
Organizational Social Capital and Generalized Trust in Korea
Son, J. (2015) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/0002764215580611 · Cited by 8
A Comparative Analysis of Political Confidence in the BRICS Countries
Lü, P. (2014) · Japanese Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s1468109914000176 · Cited by 8
Higher Education and Social Trust: A European Comparative Perspective
Boyadjieva, P., & Ilieva-Trichkova, P. (2015) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s1479-367920140000026007 · Cited by 8
Populist political right opinions and political trust among Norwegian youth
Seippel, Ø. N., & Strandbu, Å. (2016) · Journal of Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/13676261.2016.1241863 · Cited by 8
Once Bitten, Twice Shy: Trust and Trustworthiness from an African Perspective
Idemudia, E. S., & Olawa, B. D. (2021) · Springer series in emerging cultural perspectives in work, organizational, and personnel studies · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-56718-7_3 · Cited by 8
Transnational turn and national models of higher education - The case of Finland
Haapakorpi, A., & Saarinen, T. (2014) · Nordic Studies in Education · doi:10.18261/issn1891-5949-2014-03-04 · Cited by 8
Globalization: Civilizing or destructive? An empirical test of the international determinants of generalized trust
Polillo, S. (2012) · International Journal of Comparative Sociology · doi:10.1177/0020715212448666 · Cited by 9
“Wealth is an indicator of modernization (Delhey and Newton 2005), and, as Adam Smith classically argued, it is a function of how well a country is integrated in the world economy.3 I use GDP per capita from 2000 (in current dollars, logged) to operationalize it (the data come from the World Bank,…”
Background
GROWING INEQUALITIES AND THEIR IMPACTS IN THE NETHERLANDS
Salverda, W., Haas, C., de Graaf-Zijl, M., Lancee, B., Notten, N., & Ooms, T. (2013) · UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) · Cited by 8
How Civil War Experience Affects Dimensions of Social Trust in a Cross-National ComparisonPreprint
Traunmüller, R., Born, D., & Freitag, M. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2545816 · Cited by 8
Who can be trusted after the financial crisis? CEPS Working Document No. 322, November 2009
Roth, F. (2009) · Archive of European Integration (AEI) (University of Pittsburgh) · Cited by 8
Emotions on Twitter as crisis imprint in high-trust societies: Do ambient affiliations affect emotional expression during the pandemic?
Charquero‐Ballester, M., Walter, J. G., Rybner, A. S., et al. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0296801 · Cited by 7
Political crisis and social trust: the case of Australia
Kumove, M. (2024) · Australian Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1080/10361146.2024.2352044 · Cited by 7
“1 The possible determinants of social trust have therefore received a great deal of attention, ranging from country-level cultural factors (Bjørnskov 2007; Delhey and Newton 2005; Uslaner 2002) to individual life experiences (Glanville and Paxton 2007; Hardin 1992; Laurence 2015).”
Citizens trust in public and political institutions in Ethiopia
Asfaw, G. K. (2019) · African Journal of Political Science and International Relations · doi:10.5897/ajpsir2019.1146 · Cited by 7
Variations and (a)symmetries in trust between employees and employers in Europe: Some (not so) well-known stylized facts
Brandl, B. (2019) · European Journal of Industrial Relations · doi:10.1177/0959680119850721 · Cited by 7
“However, in countries where the employment relationship is often described as (relatively) harmonious, such as Sweden and Denmark in particular and also Germany (Delhey and Newton, 2005; Ilsøe, 2010), there is a higher incidence of mutual trust than where the relationship is usually seen as conflictual, for example, C…”
Influential
Quality of Government and Environmental Sustainability
Povitkina, M., & Matti, S. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198858218.013.20 · Cited by 7
The Limits of Primordial Affinity to Ethnic Trust: The Social Origins of Ethnic Trust among North Korean Refugees in London
Shin, H., & Yoon, I. (2022) · Journal of Refugee Studies · doi:10.1093/jrs/feac016 · Cited by 7
Trust plays no role in regional U.S. economic development—And five other problems with the trust literature
Forrester, A. C., & Nowrasteh, A. (2023) · Kyklos · doi:10.1111/kykl.12335 · Cited by 7
Трансформация культуры доверия в России
Veselov, Y. V., & Скворцов, Н. Г. (2023) · Monitoring obŝestvennogo mneniâ: èkonomičeskie i socialʹnye peremeny · doi:10.14515/monitoring.2023.1.2212 · Cited by 7
Revolution, Covid-19, and War in Armenia: Impacts on Various Forms of Trust
Paturyan, Y. J., & Melkonyan, S. (2024) · Caucasus Survey · doi:10.30965/23761202-bja10036 · Cited by 7
Building democratic resilience: the impact of political engagement during education on xenophobia and political trust
Kiess, J. M. (2024) · Acta Politica · doi:10.1057/s41269-024-00370-6 · Cited by 7
“To explain this, we may go back to a widely used definition of trust by Delhey and Newton (2005) who state that trust is “the belief that others will not, at worst, knowingly or willingly do you harm, and will, at best, act in your interests.””
Predicting Human Trustfulness from Facebook Language
Zamani, M., Buffone, A. E. K., & Schwartz, H. A. (2018) · Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology (CLPsych) · doi:10.18653/v1/w18-0619 · Cited by 7
“For communities, trust is a key indicator of social capital (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 1993), and it is highly predictive of economic growth (Delhey and Newton, 2005; Knack and Zak, 2003)”
Background
Neighbourhood Ethnic Composition and Social Participation of Young People in England
Fumagalli, E., & Fumagalli, L. (2019) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1093/ej/uez003 · Cited by 7
“6 A negative effect of ethnic diversity has been found for other indicators of social capital like: trust (Alesina and La Ferrara, 2002; Delhey and Newton, 2005; Pennant, 2005; Anderson and Paskeviciute, 2006; Leigh, 2006; Putnam, 2007), number of friends (Putnam, 2007).”
Background
Facebooking for Good: Online Contact to Address Offline Conflict
Bouchillon, B. C. (2019) · Social Science Computer Review · doi:10.1177/0894439319874052 · Cited by 7
“Stolle (2002) defined generalized trust as a willingness to cooperate, founded on “the belief that others will not deliberately or knowingly do us harm” (Delhey & Newton, 2005, p. 311).”
Background
Online Surveillance in a Swedish Context: Between acceptance and resistance
Cocq, C., Gelfgren, S., Samuelsson, L., & Enbom, J. (2020) · Nordicom review/NORDICOM review · doi:10.2478/nor-2020-0022 · Cited by 8
“The Nordic countries are said to be “remarkable with respect to high levels of both social trust and, to a lesser extent, institutional trust” (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Sønderskov & Dinesen, 2014; Zmerli et al., 2007; cited in Sønderskov & Dinesen, 2016: 187), referring to data from the World Values…”
BackgroundMethod
The Climate Change Dilemma: How Cooperation Beliefs Influence Energy Conservation Behavior
Lübke, C. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su13105575 · Cited by 7
“Results show that social trust is indeed associated with willingness to pay for environmental goods [30,31] and support for environmental policies [32].”
Background
Trust in Government and Social Isolation during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Brazil
da Silva, C. R. M., Aquino, C. V. M. G., Oliveira, L. V. C., Beserra, E. P., & Romero, C. B. A. (2021) · International Journal of Public Administration · doi:10.1080/01900692.2021.1920611 · Cited by 11
“According to Delhey and Newton (2005), high trust in countries is characterized by several factors, including ethnic homogeneity, good public governance, wealth, and income equality.”
Background
Motivational factors were more important than perceived risk or optimism for compliance to infection control measures in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic
Sætrevik, B., & Bjørkheim, S. B. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0274812 · Cited by 6
Reassessing social trust: gossip, self-policing, and Covid-19 risk communication in Norway
Shapiro, M., Arora, S., & Bouder, F. E. (2023) · Health Risk & Society · doi:10.1080/13698575.2023.2202686 · Cited by 7
“On the other hand, the structural resonance of trust also constitutes a powerful consensus mechanism, which makes it difficult to rebuke state policies, especially in the areas of education, health, and care (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Svendsen & Svendsen, 2016).”
Background
Zaufanie jako fundament życia społecznego na przykładzie badań w województwie łódzkim
Mularska‐Kucharek, M. (2011) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cited by 7
The transnational effect of multicultural policies on migrants' identification: the case of the Israeli diaspora in the USA
Kislev, E. (2014) · Global Networks · doi:10.1111/glob.12043 · Cited by 7
Gaming Together: When an Imaginary World Affects Generalized Trust
Lundmark, S. (2014) · Journal of Information Technology & Politics · doi:10.1080/19331681.2014.972602 · Cited by 7
“…1993; Putnam, 2007; Rothstein & Stolle, 2008; Stolle, 2001; Stolle & Rochon, 1998), the cultural-based trust theories argue that generalized trust remains relatively stable throughout an individual’s lifetime (Bjørnskov, 2006; Cesarini et al., 2008; Delhey & Newton, 2005; Uslaner, 2002, 2008).”
Background
Corporatism and Social Trust: Bringing Voluntary Organizations ‘Back In’
Torpe, L. (2014) · Journal of Civil Society · doi:10.1080/17448689.2014.922748 · Cited by 7
“Such criticism has been accompanied by empirical analyses showing that there is little or no correlation between participation in voluntary organizations and generalized trust (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Stolle, 2003; Wollebæk & Selle, 2002).”
Background
Republicanism in Mediated Society. A Comparative Analysis on Public and Private Evaluation Guided by the Theory of Symbolic Society
Elchardus, M., & Keere, K. D. (2013) · International Journal of Politics Culture and Society · doi:10.1007/s10767-013-9145-8 · Cited by 7
Two dimensions of trust in physicians in OECD-countries
Saarinen, A., Räsänen, P., & Kouvo, A. (2016) · International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance · doi:10.1108/ijhcqa-04-2015-0041 · Cited by 8
Institutions of economic freedom and generalized trust: evidence from the Eurobarometer surveys
Saravia, A. (2016) · European Societies · doi:10.1080/14616696.2015.1134800 · Cited by 7
Cross-age friendship in 25 European countries
Dykstra, P. A., & Fleischmann, M. S. (2016) · EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) · Cited by 7
Intangible activities—the prevalence of informal helping in Denmark
Hermansen, J. (2016) · Journal of Civil Society · doi:10.1080/17448689.2016.1235676 · Cited by 7
“This could in part be explained by the relatively high overall degree of social trust in Denmark (Delhey & Newton, 2005), which makes it difficult to distinguish the effect of social trust.”
BackgroundInfluential
Inter‐level Trust in a Multilevel Political System
Karlsson, D. (2017) · Scandinavian Political Studies · doi:10.1111/1467-9477.12089 · Cited by 7
Comparative Analysis of Inequality, Corruption, and Trust Studies in Modern Societies
Ардельянова, Я. А., & Андреевна, О. О. (2018) · Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences · doi:10.2478/mjss-2018-0006 · Cited by 7
“It is this latter type that is seen as crucial in large-scale modern societies (Delhey and Newton, 2005).”
Background
Cultural Factors of Trust in a Public Organization as a Workplace
Chmielecki, M., & Sułkowski, Ł. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70485-2_7 · Cited by 8
PROTOCOL: The effect of cash transfers on social solidarity: A systematic review
Leites, M., Pereira, G., Rius, A., Salas, G., & Vigorito, A. (2017) · Campbell Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/cl2.181 · Cited by 7
Explaining Fairness
Boesch, L., & Berger, R. D. (2019) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-019-09353-5 · Cited by 7
“This result corroborates the existing empirical evidence regarding the influence of ethnic homogeneity on prosociality (Alesina and La Ferrara 2000; Alesina et al. 1999; Anderson and Paskeviciute 2006; Costa and Kahn 2003; Gustavsson and Jordahl 2008; Habyarimana et al. 2007; Leigh 2006; Miguel and Gugerty 2005; Newto…”
BackgroundResultInfluential
Problems of Measurement of the Relationship Between Civil Society and Democracy When Using Survey Data
Dore, G. M. D., & Jackson, K. D. (2019) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-019-02235-4 · Cited by 7
Partisanship and generalized trust in response to the 2016 U.S. presidential election
Spina, N. (2021) · The Social Science Journal · doi:10.1080/03623319.2021.1899361 · Cited by 7
“The multifaceted explanations include growing community diversity (Alesina & La Ferrara, 2002; Delhey & Newton, 2005), lower trust in political institutions (Brehm & Rahn, 1997), rising economic inequality (Fairbrother & Martin, 2013; Uslaner & Brown, 2005), and generational effects, especially…”
Learning to Trust: Trends in Generalized Social Trust in the Three Baltic Countries from 1990 to 2018
Beilmann, M., Lilleoja, L., & Realo, A. (2021) · Societies and political orders in transition · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-75813-4_2 · Cited by 7
Social Trust and Religion in Sweden: Theological Belief Versus Social Organization
Lundåsen, S. W., & Trägårdh, L. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6815-4_6 · Cited by 7
Historical Correlates of Social TrustPreprint
Bjørnskov, C. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1817540 · Cited by 7
Historical Trust Levels Predict Current Welfare State DesignPreprint
Bergh, A., & Bjørnskov, C. (2009) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1516334 · Cited by 7
“As mentioned, many studies note the apparent association between the very high trust levels in the Nordic countries and their extended welfare state policies (Delhey and Newton, 2005; Kumlin and Rothstein, 2005; Bjørnskov, in press).”
Result
Individual-Level Determinants of Religious Practice and Belief in Catholic EuropePreprint
Conway, B. P. (2009) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 7
Social Interactions, the Evolution of Trust, and Economic GrowthPreprint
Varvarigos, D., & Xin, G. (2015) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 7
Team Trust
Costa, A. C., & Anderson, N. R. (2017) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118909997.ch17 · Cited by 7
Un otro horroroso: imaginarios sociales sobre el inmigrante venezolano en las audiencias de la prensa online chilena
Navarro-Conticello, J. (2024) · ESTUDIOS FRONTERIZOS · doi:10.21670/ref.2414150 · Cited by 6
Unraveling the impact of social media involvement on public health participation in China: mediating roles of social support, social trust, and social responsibility
Gong, W., Li, X., & Zhang, Y. (2025) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-025-04473-z · Cited by 6
“This, in turn, leads to greater social responsibility and civic engagement (Delhey and Newton, 2005; Mellor and Freehills, 2018).”
How is a large-scale reform perceived by citizens in Finnish primary health care?
Kihlström, L., Keskimäki, I., Paananen, H., et al. (2025) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118688 · Cited by 6
Does local income and wealth inequality affect mortality? A register-based fixed effects study of 58 million person-years
Jørgensen, R. E., & Lyngstad, T. H. (2022) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1177/14034948221126264 · Cited by 7
“Additionally, levels of trust are also relatively high in Norway, which, according to previous research, could function as a mediator in the inequality–mortality relationship [27].”
Background
Religion und Sozialkapital in der Schweiz
Odermatt, A. (2023) · Politik und Religion · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-41147-3 · Cited by 6
The impact of terrorism on civil servants: Longitudinal evidence from the July 22, 2011 attack in Norway
Geys, B., Lægreid, P., Murdoch, Z., & Trondal, J. (2023) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.13694 · Cited by 6
Does Gender Equality Matter? – Examining Antecedents of Crowdfunding Backers’ Intentions in a Gender Equal Society
Serwaah, P., & Shneor, R. (2023) · Journal of Alternative Finance · doi:10.1177/27533743231206401 · Cited by 6
“One possible explanation may be linked to Finland being characterized as a high trust society, where people believe others will not deliberately or knowingly do them harm and hence can be trusted (Delhey & Newton, 2005).”
Background
Are Intensive Parenting Attitudes Internationally Generalizable? The Case of Sweden
Mollborn, S., & Billingsley, S. (2025) · Journal of Family Issues · doi:10.1177/0192513x251330610 · Cited by 6
“Finally, Swedes ’ levels of both generalized social trust and trust in welfare state institutions are relatively high (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Edlund, 2006).”
Threats, Acceptance, and Ambivalence in Cooperation: the Image of China in Taiwan
Wu, C., Su, X., & Tsui, H. (2014) · East Asia · doi:10.1007/s12140-014-9218-y · Cited by 6
“” This will inevitably lead to distancing of the two groups and breed a sense of mistrust [1, 10].”
Background
Why Do We Trust Strangers? Revising the Institutional Approach to Generalised Trust Creation
Kaina, V. (2011) · West European Politics · doi:10.1080/01402382.2011.546573 · Cited by 6
“Offe 1999 ; Levi 2003 ; Hermann and Brewer 2004; Delhey and Newton 2005 ; Freitag and Buhlmann 2005 ; Rothstein 2005 ; Rothstein and Stolle 2008).”
Background

Authors: Delhey, J., & Newton, K.
Affiliations: WZB Berlin Social Science Center (DE)
University of Southampton (GB)
ORCID: Delhey, Jan
Venue: European Sociological Review
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 2005-06-06
Volume: 21
Issue: 4
Pages: 311-327
ISSN: 0266-7215 (ISSN-L)
1468-2672
DOI: 10.1093/esr/jci022
OpenAlex: W2062841522
Semantic Scholar: a6d11bebc50daf14e2d5b9849ca4dc9cdd5d05f9
Cited by: 1,267
References: 67
Citations by year: 2026: 41 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 90 · 2021: 102 · 2020: 99 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 74 · 2017: 69 · 2016: 67 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 80 · 2013: 71 · 2012: 55
FWCI: 68.02
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: European Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Funders: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Capital and Networks
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Social Policy and Reform Studies
Keywords: generalized trust, cross-national variation, ethnic homogeneity, Protestantism, good government, wealth, income equality, urbanization, particularized trust, Nordic exceptionalism, determinants of trust

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

Predicting Cross-National Levels of Social Trust: Global Pattern or Nordic Exceptionalism?

Abstract

Overview

Integrity signals

Verification

Claims the paper makes

Claims other papers make about this one

Citations

Cites

Cited by

Related

Metadata

Record

About these checks