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BOGDAN VOICU, Socialization and Institutionalization Effects on Immigrants' Social Trust
Two explanations, institutionalization and socialization, are generally used to explain the impact of social context on how much one trusts others. This paper uses the case of international immigrants to show that the two assumptions are complementary. Cross-classified multilevel models fitted on EVS 2008-2009 data prove that immigrants' levels of social trust depend on one hand on the culture of trust in the country of origin, and on the other hand on the culture of trust in the host society. While the host is generally salient, the outcome is shaped by structural conditions. In a host society rich in immigrants, the impact of the local culture increases. A country of origin dependent on remittances tends to be more influential. Coming from a country poorer in social trust to a more trustful one boosts immigrants' likelihood to trust others.
Keywords: social trust, socialization, institutionalization, international migration, cultural gap.
Trust can be conceived as a manifestation of social capital1 as well as a moral value2. At individual level, its formations is seen either as product of early socialization which acts as a stable trait over ones' life, either as shaped by continuous exposure to culture and institutions3. In the social capital debate, the discussion of "social capital regimes"4 and cultures of participation5 stresses the societal embeddedness of both trust6 and sociability. In the sociology of values, two main sets of theories address contextual determinants of value formation and change7. The socialization hypothesis8 assumes that values form during early socialization. The institutionalization hypothesis9 claims that the institutional settings determine changes over the entire lifespan. This paper asks what happens with individuals when move from a context to another? My answer is that trust is a stable trait, in the sense that it is determined by the culture of primary socialization, but it also is adaptive to the culture of trust that exists in the society where one resides.
Immigration provides a vast "natural experiment"10 that can be employed to study the process. Lacking panel data to assess if individuals change their levels of social trust when moving from one society to another, one may compare migrants to similar individuals who did not migrate. They might be either...