Social Ties and Generalized Trust, Online and in Person

Abstract

Results of the present survey ( n = 888) suggest that having strong social ties (or bonding social capital) fosters generalized trust, in support of conflict theory. There was no link between bridging social capital, or one’s more diverse ties, and trust. Facebook use was found to have an indirect but positive influence on trust through levels of bonding social capital. Civic engagement was also positively related to trust through the same measure of bonding social capital, allowing like-minded members of civic groups to connect, which spilled over to trust. Neither Facebook use nor civic engagement directly influenced generalized trust. This study suggests the viability of both physical (civic) and digital (Facebook) modes of reengaging trust in an ever-diversifying society. The “virtuous circle,” in which social trust and civic engagement prop one another up in a reciprocal fashion, instead looks like a figure eight here. Each measure indirectly boosted the other by first growing bonding social capital. When considered alongside divergent findings from Canada, this appears to be an American response to the increasing size of racial minority groups. Hispanic citizens make up the same portion of the American population as do all minority groups in Canada combined. These findings then represent a White reaction to an increasing Hispanic presence in America. Bounded solidarity in the form of strong, homogenous ties is shown as the path to trust in this setting.