American social trust dropped sharply even after accounting for rising education

Evidence

The proportion of Americans saying that most people can be trusted fell by more than a third between 1960, when 58 percent chose that alternative, and 1993, when only 37 percent did. The same trend is apparent in all educational groups; indeed, because social trust is also correlated with education and because educational levels have risen sharply, the overall decrease in social trust is even more apparent if we control for education. — Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, 56

Categorization

• CANDY: The paradox that more education yet less trust makes a punchy one-line conversational point.
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: America’s Declining…, 56
• XREF: connects to: Declining trust in government stems from increased knowledge, not worsened performance; American social isolation worsened sharply between 1990 and 2021 — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization…, 88; Declining trust follows from civic withdrawal, not just causes it — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1215

Related

• Trust in government collapsed from 1966 to 1992 (similarity 0.85)
• Declining social trust reflects generational succession, not individual change (similarity 0.84)
• Declining trust follows from civic withdrawal, not just causes it (similarity 0.83)
• Declining trust in government stems from increased knowledge, not worsened performance (similarity 0.81)
• American trust in neighbors peaked at 77 percent in 1964 (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• American social isolation worsened sharply between 1990 and 2021 #corroborates (0.85) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 88
• Declining trust in government stems from increased knowledge, not worsened performance #complicates (0.78)
• Declining trust follows from civic withdrawal, not just causes it #complicates (0.72) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1215