Generalized trust, also known as spontaneous sociability, is the
trust that people have in their fellow members of society in general. It is often measured in
survey-based
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...
research by asking the question, "Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?" This question has been included in the
General Social Surveys in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, the
World Values Survey, and the
European Social Surveys.
Unlike many other human behavioral traits, generalized trust has been found to exhibit a moderate to low
heritability
Heritability is a statistic used in the fields of breeding and genetics that estimates the degree of ''variation'' in a phenotypic trait in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals in that population. The concept of her ...
in
behavior genetic studies, implying that
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
is more important in the development of such trust than is
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar work ...
. The significant cross-national variation in levels of generalized trust also supports a significant role for cultural factors. It has been found to be associated with
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...
,
happiness
Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia.
...
, and
self-reported health Self-rated health (also called Self-reported health, Self-assessed health, or perceived health) refers to both a single question such as "in general, would you say that your health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?" and a survey question ...
.
[ ]
Recent work in the organizational field indicates that generalized trust can change over time temporary as a response to daily work experiences and in a more meaningful way in response to major life changes and events such as taking on a new social role.
References
{{Sociology-stub
Sociological terminology