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Revisiting the “Trust Radius” Question: Individualism, Collectivism, and Trust Radius in South Korea

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  • Chaeyoon Lim

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Dong-Kyun Im

    (Seoul National University)

  • Sumin Lee

    (University of Texas at Austin)

Abstract

Building on recent studies on the “trust radius” problem in generalized trust, this study proposes a new measure of trust radius, which is conceptually straightforward and flexible, and examines its relationship with the individualist–collectivist value orientations. Our proposed measure is based on widely available survey questions, can be applied to individual-level analysis, and has stronger predictive validity compared with the “most people” question or a measure of radius used in previous studies. Applying this measure to a new, nationally representative survey data from South Korea, we find that Koreans have a narrow trust radius that is limited to the most intimate social circles. Our regression analysis shows that respondents with strong collectivist orientations have a wider trust radius, whereas those with strong individualist orientations have a narrower radius. Our finding on individualist–collectivist orientations contradicts previous studies based on mostly European cross-national data, which found the opposite, and suggests that we cannot generalize the relationship between cultural values and trust found in cross-national studies to the individual-level relationship within a nation. We conclude with a discussion of our findings’ implications for future research on social trust.

Suggested Citation

  • Chaeyoon Lim & Dong-Kyun Im & Sumin Lee, 2021. "Revisiting the “Trust Radius” Question: Individualism, Collectivism, and Trust Radius in South Korea," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 149-171, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:153:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02496-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02496-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tim Reeskens, 2013. "But Who Are Those “Most People” That Can Be Trusted? Evaluating the Radius of Trust Across 29 European Societies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 703-722, November.
    2. Mai Beilmann & Liisi Kööts-Ausmees & Anu Realo, 2018. "The Relationship Between Social Capital and Individualism–Collectivism in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 641-664, June.
    3. Hyunji Kim & Eunbee Kim & Eunkook M Suh & Mitchell J Callan, 2018. "Development and preliminary validation of a Korean version of the Personal Relative Deprivation Scale," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-11, May.
    4. Lars Torpe & Henrik Lolle, 2011. "Identifying Social Trust in Cross-Country Analysis: Do We Really Measure the Same?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 481-500, September.
    5. Tim Reeskens & Marc Hooghe, 2008. "Cross-cultural measurement equivalence of generalized trust. Evidence from the European Social Survey (2002 and 2004)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 515-532, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Batia Ben-Hador & Eyal Eckhaus & Galit Klein, 2021. "Personal Social Capital in Organizations: A New Scale to Assess Internal and External Personal Social Capital in Organizations," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 1155-1177, October.

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