Imprecise survey questions manufacture the illusion of generalized trust
Evidence
Therefore, it is not credible that the standard survey results really imply merely one-part or two-part relations. It is virtually inconceivable to suppose it is a one-part relation if we pay even slight attention to what it could mean: I trust, period, everyone and with respect to everything. The standard survey question refers to “most” people; but then, it also says “most of the time,” which could be taken to mean that the respondents must restrict the range of matters on which they would trust “most people.” This is not genuinely generalized trust. The respondents are forced by the vagueness of the questions to give vague answers, and it is a misdescription to label their responses as generalized trust. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 317
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
Related
- Survey measures of generalized trust are misdescribed artifacts of vague questions. (similarity 0.90)
- Survey claims of generalized trust conceal strict contextual limits (similarity 0.87)
- Survey trust questions conflate encapsulated-interest trust with generalized trust. (similarity 0.85)
- Standard survey measures of generalized trust actually gauge perceived decency, not trust (similarity 0.84)
- Generalized trust actually operates with scoped contextual constraints (similarity 0.83)
- Survey items on generalized trust necessarily restrict the range of trustable matters (similarity 0.82)
- Generalized trust is closer to expectation than to relationship-specific trust (similarity 0.82)
- Cross-national trust comparisons measure different questions in each society (similarity 0.80)
- Survey answers about general trust reflect low-stakes dealings, not deep trust. (similarity 0.79)
- Generalized trust is defined as unspecific trust in strangers (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Survey items on generalized trust necessarily restrict the range of trustable matters
#expands(0.85) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 890 - Standard survey measures of generalized trust actually gauge perceived decency, not trust
#complicates(0.80) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 889 - Survey questions intended as cynicism scales get reinterpreted as trust measures
#complicates(0.78) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 897 - Precisely articulated survey questions contaminate respondents’ natural answers
#contradicts(0.75) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 796 - Asking about specific behaviors rather than abuse yields truthful data
#corroborates(0.75) — , the-rod-and-the-child-BOOK, 9768