Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: This paper evaluates the foundations of social capital as measured in terms of social trust in Switzerland. Specifically, the standard view that face‐to‐face interaction within voluntary associations is the dominant way to create social capital (the so‐called Tocqueville model) will be challenged. While providing no support for the thesis that active membership in associations fosters social trust, our results strongly support explanations that point to personal resources, social background variables, psychological determinants, and individual attitudes, which can only be explained effectively by the socialization process within the family and in early adulthood experiences. In fact, based on the Swiss data from the World Values Survey in the mid‐1990s, social trust is contingent upon life satisfaction, confidence in political and societal institutions, education, cosmopolitan culture, daily television consumption, and regional provenance.
Source: European Sociological Review
DOI: 10.1093/esr/19.2.217
Author: M. Freitag
Institution: University of Bern
Language: English
Topic: Social Capital and Networks
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2090144721