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Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?

Most studies that investigate the relationship between interpersonal trust and inequality make use of objective or societal measures such as the Gini coefficient, and the effect of individual assessments of inequality has thus far received much less academic attention. Using data from the Round 5 Af...

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Main Author: Jacobs, Chandré
Other Authors: Wittenberg, Martin
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Economics 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Jacobs, Chandré
author2 Wittenberg, Martin
author_browse Jacobs, Chandré
Wittenberg, Martin
author_facet Wittenberg, Martin
Jacobs, Chandré
author_sort Jacobs, Chandré
collection Thesis
description Most studies that investigate the relationship between interpersonal trust and inequality make use of objective or societal measures such as the Gini coefficient, and the effect of individual assessments of inequality has thus far received much less academic attention. Using data from the Round 5 Afrobarometer survey, I estimate the effect of perceived inequality on interpersonal trust in South Africa. Though the Round 5 Afrobarometer survey does not include an income variable, I construct an asset index using Principal Component Analysis and find that individual perceptions of socio-economic rank deviate from this measure of objective wealth. In line with the general conclusions in the literature, I find that perceived inequality has a negative effect on interpersonal trust and that individuals who believe that their living conditions are either better or worse compared to those of other South Africans' are less likely to express trust in others. This effect is more prominent in rural areas, which suggests that individuals have biased reference groups influenced by their area of residence.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:17.409Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher School of Economics
publisherStr School of Economics
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37327 Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust? Jacobs, Chandré Wittenberg, Martin Economic Science Most studies that investigate the relationship between interpersonal trust and inequality make use of objective or societal measures such as the Gini coefficient, and the effect of individual assessments of inequality has thus far received much less academic attention. Using data from the Round 5 Afrobarometer survey, I estimate the effect of perceived inequality on interpersonal trust in South Africa. Though the Round 5 Afrobarometer survey does not include an income variable, I construct an asset index using Principal Component Analysis and find that individual perceptions of socio-economic rank deviate from this measure of objective wealth. In line with the general conclusions in the literature, I find that perceived inequality has a negative effect on interpersonal trust and that individuals who believe that their living conditions are either better or worse compared to those of other South Africans' are less likely to express trust in others. This effect is more prominent in rural areas, which suggests that individuals have biased reference groups influenced by their area of residence. 2023-03-07T11:43:32Z 2023-03-07T11:43:32Z 2022 2023-02-20T12:58:01Z Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37327 eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce
spellingShingle Economic Science
Jacobs, Chandré
Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?
title_full Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?
title_fullStr Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?
title_full_unstemmed Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?
title_short Do Perceptions of Inequality Negatively Affect Interpersonal Trust?
title_sort do perceptions of inequality negatively affect interpersonal trust
topic Economic Science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37327
work_keys_str_mv AT jacobschandre doperceptionsofinequalitynegativelyaffectinterpersonaltrust