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Education and Life Satisfaction in Relation to the Probability of Social Trust: a Conceptual Framework and Empirical Analysis

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Abstract

We employ cross-sectional microdata from 2010 through 2012 collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics to investigate the proposed conceptual framework regarding the joint relationship between education, life satisfaction and the probability of social trust. The analysis has been carried out using two alternative specifications of the logit model: parametric and semiparametric. Our findings suggest that (a) both modelling methods that we utilise yield consistent results in terms of the positive effects of education and life satisfaction on social trust; (b) for unsatisfied individuals, social trust is generally low and largely unresponsive to the individual’s education level, whereas for ‘sufficiently satisfied’ individuals, social trust increases strongly with education; (c) there are some gender differences in the joint relationship between education, life satisfaction and social trust and (d) the parametric approach tends to mask some interesting patterns that are captured by the semiparametric specification. This finding implies that the parametric approach leads to a biased interpretation of the results, with an apparent failure of some of the assumptions made in the conceptual framework.

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Notes

  1. The macro-areas are as follows: north-western Italy (consisting of the following regions: Piemonte, Valle d’Aosta, Lombardia and Liguria); north-eastern Italy (Trentino Alto-Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia Romagna); central Italy (Toscana, Umbria, Marche and Lazio); southern Italy (Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria); and the islands (Sicilia and Sardegna).

  2. The variable was categorised during the process of data collection.

  3. Whereas Putnam (1996) argues that the decline in social trust in the US can be attributed in part to increased television viewing, Uslaner (1998) found that when measures of optimism are considered as factors associated with trust, the effects of television vanish. Here, we are not able to control directly for optimism of individuals because of lack of information in this regard.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for many suggestions that have helped to improve the presentation and quality of the article. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect those of the institution of affiliation.

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  1. Prometeia, G. Marconi 43, 40122, Bologna, Italy

    Luca Zanin

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Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 6 and 7.

Fig. 6
figure 6

Distribution of the predicted probabilities of social trust obtained using model (1). Plots (a, b) show boxplots of the predicted probabilities of social trust among highly educated men (≥18 years of education) who are extremely satisfied (life satisfaction ≥8) or unsatisfied (life satisfaction ≤4) with life, respectively, given the other control variables at their observed values. Plots (c, d) show the results for the same combinations for the sample of women. Plots (e, f) show boxplots of the predicted probabilities of social trust among individuals who have a basic educational level (≤5 years of education) and are extremely satisfied (life satisfaction ≥8) or unsatisfied (life satisfaction ≤4) with life, respectively, given the other control variables at their observed values. Plots (g, h) show the results for the same combinations for the sample of women

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Fig. 7
figure 7

Distribution of the predicted probabilities of social trust obtained using model (2). Plots (a, b) show boxplots of the predicted probabilities of social trust among men who are highly educated (≥18 years of education) and extremely satisfied (life satisfaction ≥8) or unsatisfied (life satisfaction ≤4) with life, respectively, given the other control variables at their observed values. Plots (c, d) show the results for the same combinations for the sample of women. Plots (e, f) show boxplots of the predicted probabilities of social trust among individuals who have a basic educational level (≤5 years of education) and are extremely satisfied (life satisfaction ≥8) or unsatisfied (life satisfaction ≤4) with life, respectively, given the other control variables at their observed values. Plots (g, h) show the results for the same combinations for the sample of women

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Zanin, L. Education and Life Satisfaction in Relation to the Probability of Social Trust: a Conceptual Framework and Empirical Analysis. Soc Indic Res 132, 925–947 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1322-5

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