Trust thy Neighbour, but Leave Up the Hedges: Trust in the Urban Scene

• In Event: 3465 - Social Capital and Trust

Abstract

Trust is a prominent topic within the social capital literature. Understood as the belief in the integrity of other people and the disposition to depend on them, the sociological underpinnings of trust have not received as much attention as its effects. Existing scholarship suggests that three social determinants—in-group/out-group distinctions, participation in voluntary associations and informal social ties—are important to understand generalized trust. An underlying assumption of these dimensions is that trust is developed in the specific contexts in which individuals interact. To date, however, the role that spatial context plays in understanding interpersonal trust has yet to be considered as a separate dimension within this literature. Drawing on scene theory (Silver & Clark, 2016), I propose that trust develops in interaction with the specific qualities of a place—the elements that define what individuals experience as a distinctive atmosphere. Using the urban area of Toronto as a case study, this paper advances existing ecological research by incorporating a relational approach to the understanding of the spatial distribution of trust. The analysis suggests that higher levels of trust are moderately concentrated in the downtown area, while lower levels are more frequent in its surroundings. Multilevel models provide support to the hypothesis that trust is fostered by the interactions between individuals and the qualities of the places they inhabit.

Author

• Fernando A. Calderón Figueroa, University of Toronto