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Will you still trust me tomorrow? The causal effect of terrorism on social trust

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  • Benny Geys

    (Norwegian Business School BI)

  • Salmai Qari

    (German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)
    Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin))

Abstract

How do people respond to terrorist events? Exploiting the timing of the 2010 wave of the annual ‘Society Opinion Media’ survey in Sweden, we study the causal effect of the Stockholm bombings of 11 December 2010 on Swedish public opinion. Our main contribution is that we draw explicit attention to the link between terrorist events and individuals’ social trust. While we identify a strong effect on individuals’ concern over terrorism, any observed effects with respect to generalised and neighbourhood trust appear to be short-lived—suggesting that isolated terror events have only limited, transitory effects on established social attitudes.

Suggested Citation

  • Benny Geys & Salmai Qari, 2017. "Will you still trust me tomorrow? The causal effect of terrorism on social trust," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 289-305, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:173:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-017-0477-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-017-0477-1
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    2. Nowak, Anna, 2019. "Rally around the EU flag! Supra-nationalism in the light of Islamist terrorism," CIW Discussion Papers 5/2019, University of Münster, Center for Interdisciplinary Economics (CIW).
    3. Benny Geys & Øystein Hernæs, 2021. "Party leaders and voter responses to political terrorism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 481-499, June.
    4. Hans Pitlik & Martin Rode, 2021. "Radical Distrust: Are Economic Policy Attitudes Tempered by Social Trust?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 485-506, December.
    5. Deole, Sumit S., 2019. "Justice delayed is assimilation denied: Right-wing terror and immigrants' assimilation in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 69-78.
    6. Bauer, Hannah & Schulze, Günther G., 2022. "Terror and social cohesion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    7. Nowak, Anna, 2018. "You failed! Government satisfaction and party preferences facing Islamist terrorism," CIW Discussion Papers 6/2018, University of Münster, Center for Interdisciplinary Economics (CIW).
    8. Economou Athina & Kollias Christos, 2023. "In NATO We Trust(?): The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and EU27 Citizens’ Trust in NATO," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 29(2), pages 129-144, May.
    9. Jesús Peiró-Palomino & Lisa Gianmoena & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo & Vicente Ríos, 2023. "Does social trust determine social progress? Evidence for the European regions," Working Papers 2305, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    10. Sumit S. Deole, 2018. "Justice Delayed is Assimilation Denied: Rightwing Terror, Fear and Social Assimilation of Turkish Immigrants in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 7235, CESifo.
    11. Jesús Peiró-Palomino & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo, 2019. "Is Social Capital Green? Cultural Features and Environmental Performance in the European Union," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(3), pages 795-822, March.
    12. Helbling, Marc & Meierrieks, Daniel & Pardos-Prado, Sergi, 2022. "Terrorism and Immigration Policy Preferences," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-1.
    13. Sumit S. Deole, 2018. "Justice Delayed Is Assimilation Denied: Rightwing Terror, Fear and Social Assimilation of Turkish Immigrants in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1005, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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