Is the importance of religion in daily life related to social trust? Cross-country and cross-state comparisons

Niclas Berggren and Christian Bjørnskov

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2011, vol. 80, issue 3, 459-480

Abstract: We look at the effect of importance of religion in daily life on social trust, defined as the share of a population that thinks that people in general can be trusted. We make use of new data from the Gallup World Poll for 109 countries and 43 U.S. states. Our empirical results indicate a robust, negative relationship between this measure of religiosity and trust, both internationally and within the U.S. The size of this association increases with the degree of religious diversity.

Keywords: Trust; Religiosity; Religion; Social capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O57 Z12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (78)

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Working Paper: Is the Importance of Religion in Daily Life Related to Social Trust? Cross-Country and Cross-State Comparisons (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:80:y:2011:i:3:p:459-480

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.05.002

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