Trust and Ethnic Tolerance in the Face of Social Change

The primary goals of this article are to examine conceptual approaches to the study of trust, summarize the tools that can be used in such studies, and use empirical data to elucidate the concept of a “culture of trust.” It also discusses certain problems involved in the empirical study of generalized trust and concludes that ethnic tolerance is one element of a culture of trust. The article presents the results of a 2014 sociological study of Muscovites that was carried out using formalized interviews. This study examined the attitude of trust and subjective bases of trust and mistrust that have developed within Moscow society. A three-stage random territorial probability sampling was used, distributed across administrative districts proportional to their population sizes. The 800-respondent sample was representative in terms of sex and age. Using a simple 4-point scale, our study found that Moscow’s population is strongly polarized in terms of trust—47.6 percent are inclined to be trusting while 46.5 percent are not. Trust networks in Moscow are primarily built around close family and friends. There is a clear lack of basic trust. The study’s results suggest that generalized trust and ethnic tolerance are interrelated. What links these processes are the collaborative relationships that form based on ties of friendship and neighborliness.