Current Publications

Chasing a Phantom

Author(s)
H. Christoph Steinhardt, Xue Gong, Jan Delhey
Abstract

A “trust crisis” has sparked public concern and driven state-led moral engineering in China. If China’s rapid development has indeed eroded social trust, it would challenge the optimistic theory of modernization and trust. This study draws on 11 probability survey samples from the Chinese World Values Survey and the China Family Panel Studies, collected between 1990 and 2020, to re-evaluate the development of trust. We do not find evidence of a decline in social trust. The levels of trust in “most people,” general trust in strangers, and particular trust in neighbors have been stable or have modestly increased over time. Examining associations between indicators of social trust and modernization reveals concurrent support for both optimistic and pessimistic theories of modernization and trust. We further demonstrate that survey items on trust in “most people” should be used with more caution in China. The central problem of social trust in China is that the supply of general trust has not kept pace with the rapidly growing demand for this valuable component of social capital.

Organisation(s)
Department of East Asian Studies
External organisation(s)
Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg
Journal
Chinese Sociological Review
No. of pages
36
ISSN
2162-0555
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2024.2430265
Publication date
03-2024
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
504007 Empirical social research, 602045 Sinology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Demography, Anthropology, Gender Studies, Sociology and Political Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/44feb4c0-a5dd-4669-b863-27cf966943a4