Usaldus ühiskondlike institutsioonide vastu: dimensioonid ja mõjutegurid
Kuupäev
2010
Autorid
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Tartu Ülikool
Abstrakt
Kirjeldus
Contemporary societies are characterised as insecure and unpredictable. Due to that,
society members’ ability to cooperate with each other and the persistance of
democratic structure face many challenges. Trust facilitates social interactions in such
a complex environment by acting as means of taming risks and countering
uncertainties. It allows an institution (or an individual or a social role) to liberate itself
from constant social monitoring and control and gain more freedom of action that is
essential for original and innovative behaviour.
Katrin Arvisto’s bachelors thesis „Institutional Trust: Dimensions and Influencing
Factors“ deals with trust toward social institutions. It strives for a more detailed
explanation of institutional trust and aims to identify whether the hypothesis about
multidimensionality of institutional trust is relevant in Estonia. Research questions
focus on the dimensionality of institutional trust and on factors that have in prior
research been proven to influence people’s trust toward social institutions.
Data used in this study was gathered during a nationwide representative survey in
2008, the dataset includes answers of 1507 respondents.
To answer the first question posed in her study the author used the technique of
exploratory factor analysis in order to detect the dimensionality of institutional trust.
Research revealed that social institutions can be grouped into three distinct categories
that are differentiated by different kind of expectations directed towards each group.
The three dimensions of institutional trust are labeled by their dominant expectations
as communicative, legitimacy-oriented and procedural. Although the question of what
a person actually has in mind when evaluating his degree of trust towards specific
social institution remains unanswered in current study, the three-dimensional nature
of institutional trust provides new possibilities for interpretation of the phenomenon.
Additionally the author tested relationships between institutional trust and two
variables both representing the ways respondents perceive their social environment –
attitudes towards recent changes in society and satisfaction with their personal
economic situation. Results show that there are positive correlations between these
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variables and those of institutional trust. The results aslo indicate that the better an
individual feels about changes in society and the more pleased he is with his or his
family’s economic situation the higher he evaluates trustworthiness of social
institutions. Socio-demographical characteristics such as gender, age, education, and
ethnicity were also tested.
Keywords: trust, trust toward institutions, dimensions of institutional trust
Märksõnad
bakalaureusetööd, ühiskond, kodanikuühiskond, muutused, sotsiaalne kapital, usaldus, väärtusorientatsioon, institutsioonid, avalik sektor, riigiasutused, meedia