Generalized Trust Radius In And Out Of The Lab: To What Extent Are Those "Most People" Ethnic In-Groups and Out-Groups?

Generalized trust (GT) or trust in ‘most people’ is a conspicuous indicator in more than 80 studies on intergroup relations and ethnic diversity. While prior research has extensively debated the negative link between ethnic diversity and GT examining several contextual mechanisms, few have focused on systematic response bias in answers to this question and specifically whether it taps into attitudes and behavior towards ethnic out-groups or even in-groups. An exception is a study using think aloud protocols, which has demonstrated that the majority of respondents high in GT think ‘most people’ refers to people they know, whereas a high proportion of those who are low in GT think about strangers. Clearly, this questions the conclusions of previous research that assumes GT measures out-group trust. Following the homophily principle – the tendency of individuals to associate and bond with similar others – we can expect that people known to the respondents are likely to be in-groups, and strangers are more likely to be out-groups, although formally we do not know this. In this paper we, therefore, return to some of the overlooked basics in this literature: the conceptualization and measurement of GT, which is allegedly in decline by ethnic diversity. This paper examines the validity of GT as a proxy for intergroup attitudes and implicit prejudice by employing novel laboratory data and data from Project Implicit. The former is essential since with some notable exceptions, we lack studies that examine the behavioral implications of GT. In this paper, we address this gap by examining the relationship between GT, explicit attitudes and behavior with: reaction times (an adapted Race Implicit Association Test); trust game; and a seating task, while also repeating a think aloud protocol. Laboratory measures allow us to better tap into behavior towards specific ethnic in and out-groups rather than a survey questionnaire, which often evaluates self-reported intentions towards unspecific faceless people. If GT indeed taps into trust toward out-groups, we should see a robust relationship between GT and out-group attitudes (explicit and implicit) as well behavior. Conversely, if GT is (only) reflective of attitudes about in-groups, we should see robust relations between GT and measures of in-group attitudes and behavior.