Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Antecedents of Trust among Citizens and Non-citizens in Qatar

  • Published:
Journal of International Migration and Integration Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Utilizing new survey data on social capital, we examine the determinants and locus of generalized trust among citizens and immigrants in Qatar, a small, heterogeneous, wealthy, and non-democratic country in which immigrants far outnumber citizens. Scholars of social capital have explored the development of generalized trust in many countries. Most of this attention has focused on the Western world, and little is known about how trust forms in other contexts. Our findings show that important insights resulting from research in developed democracies apply and have explanatory power in some of the very different environments present in Qatar, that these insights do not apply and have explanatory power in some of the other environments present in Qatar, that circumstances and experiences that characterize this array of environments can be identified and described in terms of variable attributes, and that linkages can be established between these attributes and particular antecedents of generalized trust.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Unofficial estimates indicate 86 % of Qatar’s population are non-citizens compared to 84 % in the UAE, 54.75 % in Bahrain, 48.7 % in Kuwait, and 31.43 % in Saudi Arabia.

  2. We did not control for religious affiliation because there is insufficient variance across our subgroups when it comes to religious identity with over 99 % of Qataris and 95 % of white collar workers from the Arab world identifying as Muslim. However, we did control for religious affiliation in our white collar Asia and migrant laborer sample, where increased variation made such specifications possible. In no instance do we observe a significant relationship between religious affiliation and trust. This analysis is available upon request from the authors.

  3. For example, Mowasalat, the largest provider of taxis, predominantly employs people from India who reside at the same labor camp.

  4. We conducted cross-equation tests to determine whether the difference in our estimates of the average effect of membership in organizations is in fact significantly different between Qataris and the other groups. We find that the difference between Qataris and white-collar individuals from Asia, as well as between Qataris and migrant laborers, is indeed statistically significant. The difference in the magnitude of the effect between Qataris and white-collar immigrants from the Arab world is smaller and does not reach statistical significance. Among this latter group, however, the effect falls short of significance in the model. Thus, we know that while the magnitude of the effect of membership in organizations is potentially similar across these two groups, the difference in significance allows us to conclude that membership in organizations still matters more for levels of trust among Qataris. We point out again, however, that while the magnitude of the effects is similar, gender is not a significant predictor of trust among this latter group.

  5. Cross-equation tests reveal that the difference in the coefficient on gender for Qataris and white-collar workers from Asia is indeed significant. As was the case with organization membership, however, the difference in our coefficient estimates is not significant between Qataris and white-collar workers from the Arab world.

  6. In interpreting our interaction terms, we followed the method outlined in Ai and Norton (2003).

  7. Appendix Fig. 3 presents the marginal effect (by computing the cross-partial derivative) of membership in an organization when our gender indicator variable changes from 0 (male) to 1 (female). The mean interaction effect is negative and statistically insignificant.

  8. The difference in the size of the effect is significant between Qataris and white-collar workers from Asia, but not between Qataris and white-collar workers from the Arab world. The effect among the white-collar workers is not significant, however.

  9. Appendix Fig. 4 presents the marginal effect of worshipping on general trust between men and women. We see that the mean interaction effect is not statistically significant.

  10. The difference in the coefficients between white collar workers from Asia and each of the other groups is statistically significant in each case.

  11. The difference in the coefficients between white collar workers, labor migrants, and the other two groups is statistically significant in each case.

References

  • Ai, C., & Norton, E. C. (2003). Interaction terms in logit and probit models. Economics Letters, 80, 123–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alesina, A., & La Ferrara, E. (2002). Who trusts others? Journal of Public Economics, 85, 207–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnskov, C. (2007). Determinants of generalized trust: a cross-country comparison. Public Choice, 130, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brehm, J., & Rahn, W. (1997). Individual-level evidence for the causes and consequences of social capital. American Journal of Political Science, 41, 999–1023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carapico, S. (2010). Civil society. In M. Penner Angrist (Ed.), Politics and society in the contemporary Middle East (pp. 91–109). Boulder: Lynne Renner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chhibber, P. (2002). Why are some women politically active? The household, public space, and political participation in India. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 43, 409–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crystal, J. (1995). Civil society in the Arabian Gulf. In A. Richard Norton (Ed.), Civil society in the Middle East (pp. 259–283). New York: E.J. Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delhey, J., & Newton, K. (2005). Predicting cross-national levels of social trust: global pattern or nordic exceptionalism? European Sociological Review, 21, 311–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinesen, P. T., & Hooghe, M. (2010). When in Rome, do as the Romans do: the acculturation of generalized trust among immigrants in Western Europe. International Migration Review, 44, 697–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freitag, M., & Bühlmann, M. (2009). Crafting trust the role of political institutions in a comparative perspective. Comparative Political Studies, 42, 1537–1566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herreros, F., & Criado, H. (2009). Social trust, social capital and perceptions of immigration. Political Studies, 57, 337–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, M., Reeskens, T., Stolle, D., & Trappers, A. (2009). Ethnic diversity and generalized trust in Europe a cross-national multilevel study. Comparative Political Studies, 42, 198–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamal, A. (2007). When is social trust a desirable outcome? Examining levels of trust in the Arab world. Comparative Political Studies, 40, 1328–1349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamal, A., & Nooruddin, I. (2010). The democratic utility of trust: a cross-national analysis. The Journal of Politics, 72, 45–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kesler, C., & Bloemraad, I. (2010). Does immigration erode social capital? The conditional effects of immigration-generated diversity on trust, membership, and participation across 19 countries, 1981–2000. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 43, 319–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuran, T. (2013). Institutional roots of authoritarian rule in the Middle East: political legacies of the Waqf. Working paper, Retrieved from www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Intellectual_Life/LTW-Kuran.pdf .

  • La Porta, R., Lopez-De-Silane, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1996). Trust in large organizations. No. w5864. Cambridge: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Letki, N. (2008). Does diversity erode social cohesion? Social capital and race in British neighbourhoods. Political Studies, 56, 99–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levi, M. (1998). A state of trust. In V. Braithwaite & M. Levi (Eds.), Trust and governance. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paxton, P. (2007). Association memberships and generalized trust: a multilevel model across 31 countries. Social Forces, 86, 47–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, G. R. (2001). Religion as orienting worldview. Zygon, 36, 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (1993). Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (2007). E pluribus unum: diversity and community in the twenty‐first century, the 2006 Johan Skytte prize lecture. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30, 137–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Röder, A., & Mühlau, P. (2012). Low expectations or different evaluations: what explains immigrants’ high levels of trust in host-country institutions? Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38, 777–792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, R., Mishler, W., & Haerpfer, C. (1998). Democracy and its alternatives: understanding post-communist societies. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Social Capital Survey of Qatar I. (2011). [dataset]. March 2012 version. Doha, Qatar: Qatar University

  • Stolle, D., & Hooghe, M. (2004). The roots of social capital: attitudinal and network mechanisms in the relation between youth and adult indicators of social capital. Acta Politica, 39, 422–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stolle, D., Soroka, S., & Johnston, R. (2008). When does diversity erode trust? Neighborhood diversity, interpersonal trust and the mediating effect of social interactions. Political Studies, 56, 57–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uslaner, E. M. (2002). The moral foundations of trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The Social Capital Survey was funded by the Qatar National Research Foundation (QNRF) through its National Priority Research Program (NPRP). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Qatar National Research Fund. QNRF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

    Abdoulaye Diop

  2. Department of Political Science, Duke University, 140 Science Drive, 208 Gross Hall, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Ashley E. Jardina

  3. Department of Political Science and Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan, 500 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Mark Tessler

  4. Center for Social and Behavioral Research and Department of Political Science, University of Northern Iowa, 1227 W. 27th St., Cedar Falls, IA, 50614, USA

    Jill Wittrock

Authors
  1. Abdoulaye Diop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashley E. Jardina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mark Tessler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jill Wittrock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jill Wittrock.

Appendix

Appendix

Figures 3 and 4 show the marginal effects of organizational membership and frequency of worship, respectively, on general trust among men and women.

Fig. 3
figure 3

The marginal effect of organizational membership on general trust among men and women. Source: Social Capital Survey of Qatar I (2011). Data are weighted

Full size image
Fig. 4
figure 4

The marginal effect of frequency of worship on general trust among men and women. Source: Social Capital Survey of Qatar I (2011). Data are weighted

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Diop, A., Jardina, A.E., Tessler, M. et al. Antecedents of Trust among Citizens and Non-citizens in Qatar. Int. Migration & Integration 18, 183–202 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-016-0474-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-016-0474-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation