Diversity and Generalised Trust: The Case of Turkey

Generalized trust stands as a significant civic attitude which relates to citizens’ political activism and civil society involvement. In countries where generalized trust is low, the citizens find it more difficult to actively involve in politics and to associate with the fellow citizens for common undertakings. The ethnic and religious diversity is among the significant determinants of generalized trust and present study explores the relationship between diversity and generalized trust in Turkey. Earlier studies working with data from institutionalized democracies argued that ethnic diversity would first influence generalized trust negatively, yet the sustenance of interaction with different others is eventually expected to result in more trust in the fellow men. Along similar lines others underlined the significance of interaction among different ethnic groups as a positive determinant of generalized trust. These studies showed the relevance of social interactions and networks at the neighborhood level for extending trust to the fellow men. Present study attempts to conduct a similar analysis in Turkey where democratic system has not institutionalized fully yet. Kurds are the most visible ethnic minority and Alevis are the most populous sectarian minority in Turkey. We employ a survey conducted in 2011, in five cities of Turkey which included a discussion network name generator to elicit the network data. Based on this survey, present study explores social network influence on generalized trust in settings of ethnic and religious diversity. The research findings show that diversity influences the generalized trust of the majority- Muslim Turks in this case- negatively, yet it does not pose any significant influence on generalized trust of the minority groups. Also, diversity within the family seems to have different influence on generalized trust than diversity among friends. The analysis aims to discuss these results within the context of Turkish society and democracy.