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Religion and Trust

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Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

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Abstract

This chapter investigates the relationship between religiosity and trust. First, the relevant literature is summarized and discussed. Second, a new light is shed on the relationship between religiosity and trust through the simultaneous examination of two dimensions of religiosity: individual and social. Finally, the relationship between religiosity and trust is explored using the example of the United States where it is found that social religiosity or belonging (services attendance, church membership) increases trust, while individual religiosity or believing (prayer, closeness to, and belief in God) lowers trust. Individuals who claimed to believe in God tend to trust other people less. The ingroup favoritism and outgroup distrust theory is used in this chapter to explain why connecting with God disrupts connection with humans. The chapter also underscores the importance of studying how religiosity affects trust, particularly given the significant impact that trust can have on human interaction and behavior.

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Acknowledgments

Responsible Section Editor: Olga Popova

The article has benefitted from valuable comments of the editors and anonymous referees.

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None. There is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College – City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY, USA

    Rubia R. Valente

  2. Dept of Public Policy and Administration, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA

    Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn & Ebshoy Magdy Zaki

Authors
  1. Rubia R. Valente
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  2. Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn
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  3. Ebshoy Magdy Zaki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rubia R. Valente .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), Regensburg, Germany

    Olga Popova

  2. CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    Olga Popova

  3. Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation

    Olga Popova

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Valente, R.R., Okulicz-Kozaryn, A., Zaki, E.M. (2022). Religion and Trust. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_285-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_285-1

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