Individual-Level Determinants of Social Capital: Some Empirical Evidence in MENA

Abstract

Despite social capital's role in shaping nations' economic growth and social development, studies examining social capital determinants have overlooked the MENA region. This study explores personal values and religiosity as possible determinants of social capital in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by focusing on interpersonal trust. Considering the social and cultural context in the MENA region, the author advances an approach exploring how personal values and religiosity shape interpersonal trust. In doing so, we utilize data from the World Values Survey Round 7. The WVS data pertains to 12322 respondents from 9 MENA countries, which we analyze with the help of linear regression analysis. The novelty of this study lies in covering how individual-level personal values and religiosity influence ingroup and outgroup trust. An important finding is that outgroup trust can decrease when people become more religious, attend prayers frequently, or believe in their religion’s superiority. At the same time, it increases when people attend religious services more frequently. We find that interpersonal trust increases when people favor gender equality.