A social network assessment of generalized trust: Turkey in comparative perspective

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1421132 (Table of Contents)

Generalized trust is about trust in people we do not know. It refers to a general optimism and faith in the good will of people at large. It is among the significant civic attitudes that relate to democratic performance because it allows for citizen level association and participation. Turkey ranks low in terms of generalized trust. The present dissertation aims to test the hypotheses set forth by the social capital literature regarding the social network underpinnings of generalized trust for the Turkish case. It employs social network measures which are based on tie level information. The dissertation seeks to answer questions such as: ''Do social networks influence generalized trust? Can we talk about the relevance of social networks and relational ties for low trust countries such as Turkey? How do country level differences interact with social network influence on generalized trust?'' In order to answer these questions, a survey analysis which was conducted in 2008-2009 and was representative of Turkey's urban population, is used. Findings from the Turkish case are discussed within a comparative framework. A cross-country analysis, which is based on the International Social Survey Program's (ISSP) survey of 2001 on social networks, is used for comparison. The study shows the relevance of social networks for generalized trust however, it further points out the need for qualifications of social networks according to the network boundary and the tie properties. Also, it emphasizes the importance of the socio-political context to make better sense of social network influence on generalized trust.