Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Trust and Trustworthiness in a Sub-Saharan African Sample: Contributions of Personality and Religiosity

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Trust is a social capital with burgeoning research interests from diverse disciplines in the social sciences, behavioral sciences and health fields. Despite these abundant literatures, trust research in sub-Saharan Africa is limited. The overwhelming area of interest on trustworthiness have also been focused on the trustee, with little consideration of the extent to which individuals perceive themselves to be trustworthy and the factors that may predict trustworthiness. The present study examined the contributions of personality and religiosity to propensity to trust and trustworthiness in a Nigerian student sample. Data was obtained using self-report measures of the Big Five Personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience), religiosity (operationalised as attendance to religious activities), trust, and trustworthiness. Results showed that agreeableness predicted increased trust, whereas conscientiousness and neuroticism predicted lower trust. Neither trust nor trustworthiness was significantly predicted by extraversion and openness to experience. Greater trustworthiness was predicted by high agreeableness, while high conscientiousness predicted reduced trustworthiness. Neuroticism did not predict trustworthiness. Religious involvement did not predict trust, but greater frequency of attendance to religious activities predicted lower trustworthiness. Findings suggest that agreeableness and conscientiousness may be important traits of interest in relation to trust and trustworthiness among youth in the sub-Saharan African context. Externalities of religion such as regular attendance to religious worship may not result to trust and may not foster trustworthiness. Researchers should give more attention to this area of research in order to clearly show their implications for social policy in developing countries.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Addai, I., Opoku-Agyeman, C., & Ghartey, H. T. (2013). An exploratory study of religion and trust in Ghana. Social Indicators Research, 110(3), 993–1012. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9969-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alarcon, G. M., Lyons, J. B., & Christensen, J. (2016). The effect of propensity to trust and familiarity on perceptions of trustworthiness overtime. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 309–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alarcon, G. M., Lyons, J. B., Christensen, J. C., Bowers, M. A., Klosterman, S. L., & Capiola, A. (2018). The role of propensity to trust and the five factors model across the trust process. Journal of Research in Personality, 75, 69–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alarcon, G. M., Lyons, J. B., Christensen, J. C., Klosterman, S. L., Bowers, M. A., Ryan, T. J., & Jessup, S. A. (2018). The effect of propensity to trust and perceptions of trustworthiness on trust behaviors in dyads. Behaviour Research, 50, 1906–1920. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0959-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Algan, Y., & Cahuc, P. (2010). Inherited trust and economic growth. American Economic Review, 100, 2060–2092.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2015). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2016). College students as emerging adults: The developmental implications of the college context. Emerging Adulthood, 4(3), 219–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2008). The prediction of honesty-humility-related criteria by the HEXACO and Five-Factor Models of personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1216–1228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2008.03.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, M. C., Lee, K., & Paunonen, S. V. (2002). What is the central feature of extraversion? Social attention versus reward sensitivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 245–251. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.1.245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg, J., Dickhaut, J., & McCabe, K. (1995). Trust, reciprocity, and social history. Games and Economic Behavior, 10(1), 122–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berggren, N., & Bjørnskov, C. (2011). Is the importance of religion in daily life related to social trust? Cross-country and cross-state comparisons. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 80(3), 459–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2011.05.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berggren, N., & Jordahl, H. (2006). Free to trust economic freedom and social capital. Kyklos, 59(2), 141–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernath, M. S., & Feshbach, N. D. (1995). Children’s trust: Theory, assessment, development, and research directions. Applied and Preventative Psychology, 4, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beyerlein, K., & Hipp, J. R. (2006). From pews to participation: The effect of congregation activity and context on bridging civic engagement. Social Problems, 53(1), 97–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boone, C., De Brabander, B., & Van Witteloostuijn, A. (1999). The impact of personality on behavior in five Prisoner’s Dilemma games. Journal of Economic Psychology, 20, 343–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borum, R. (2010). The science of interpersonal trust. Retrieved on February 14, 2020 from https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/mhlp_facpub/574

  • Bouchard, T. J., Jr., & McGue, M. (2003). Genetic and environmental influences on human psychological differences. Journal of Neurobiology, 54(1), 4–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brocklebank, S., Lewis, G. J., & Bates, T. C. (2011). Personality accounts for stable preferences and expectations across a range of simple games. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 881–886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2008). Perspectives on personality. Boston: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, D., Hamamura, T., Li, L. M. W., & Zhang, X. (2017). Is trusting others related to better health? An investigation of older adults across six non-western countries. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 48(8), 1288–1301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuah, S. H., Gächter, S., Hoffmann, R., & Tan, J. W. H. (2016). Religion, discrimination and trust across three cultures. European Economic Review, 90, 280–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2016.03.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chukwuorji, J. C., Ituma, E. A., & Ugwu, L. E. (2018). Locus of control and academic engagement: Mediating role of religious commitment. Current Psychology, 37, 792–802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9546-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. (1988). Personality in adulthood: A six-year longitudinal study of self-reports and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 853–863.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. (1992). Revised Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI) R: Professional Manual. Odessa FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crepaz, M. M. L., & Polk, J. (2015). Forms of interpersonal trust and types of political participation. World Values survey paper series. Retrieved on June 30, 2019 from https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/arts/wvs-paperseries/Documents/05%20Interpersonal%20trust%20and%20political%20participation.pdf

  • Daniel, S., Nnochiri, I., & Yakubu, D. (2020). Nigeria drops point in global corruption index, ranked 146 out of 180 countries. Vanguard, January 24, 2020 from www.vanguardngr.com

  • Daniels, J. P., & von der Ruhr, M. (2010). Trust in others: Does religion matter? Review of Social Economy, 68(2), 163–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daskalopoulou, I. (2019). Individual-level evidence on the causal relationship between social trust and institutional trust. Social Indicators Research., 144(1), 275–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-2035-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado-Ma´rquez, B. L., Hurtado-Torres, N. E., & Arago´n-Correa, J. A. (2013). On the measurement of interpersonal trust transfer: Proposal of indexes. Social Indicators Research, 113, 433–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0103-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng, S., Lin, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, X., & Li, H. (2017). How do personality traits shape information-sharing behaviour on social media? Exploring the mediating effect of generalised trust. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 22(3), 763–797.

    Google Scholar 

  • Depue, R. A., & Collins, P. F. (1999). Neurobiology of the structure of personality: Dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 491–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Depue, R. A., & Morrone-Strupinsky, J. V. (2005). A neurobehavioral model of affiliative bonding: Implications for conceptualizing a human trait of affiliation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 313–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeYoung, C. G. (2013). The neuromodulator of exploration: A unifying theory of the role of dopamine in personality. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeYoung, C. G. (2014). Openness/Intellect: A dimension of personality reflecting cognitive exploration. In M. L. Cooper & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology: Personality processes and individual differences (Vol. 4, pp. 369–399). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Napoli, I., Dolce, P., & Arcidiacono, C. (2019). Community trust: A social indicator related to community engagement. Social Indicators Research, 145(2), 551–579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02114-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dilmaghani, M. (2017). Religiosity and social trust: Evidence from Canada. Review of Social Economy, 75(1), 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346764.2016.1186820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinesen, P. T., Nørgaard, A. S., & Klemmensen, R. (2014). The civic personality: Personality and democratic citizenship. Political Studies, 62(S1), 134–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingemans, E., & Ingen, E. V. (2015). Does religion breed trust? A cross-national study of the effects of religious involvement, religious faith, and religious context on social trust. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 54(4), 739–755.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dohmen, T., Falk, A., Huffman, D., & Sunde, U. (2008). Representative trust and reciprocity: Prevalence and determinants. Economic Inquiry, 46(1), 84–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C. G. (1991). Religious involvement and subjective well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32(1), 80–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engelmann, J. B., Schmid, B., De Dreu, C. K. W., Chumbley, J., & Fehr, E. (2019). On the psychology and economics of antisocial personality. PNAS, 116(26), 12781–12786. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820133116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York, NY: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, A. (2016). Interpersonal Trust Scale. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences (pp. 1–2). The Netherlands: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, A. M., & Revelle, W. (2008). Survey and behavioral measurements of interpersonal trust. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1585–1593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eze, I. C. (2013). Personality, interpersonal trust and assertiveness as predictors of homesickness among first year undergraduates of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Honors Thesis. Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

  • Fahr, R., & Irlenbusch, B. (2008). Identifying personality traits to enhance trust between organisations: An experimental approach. Managerial and Decision Economics, 29, 469–487. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.1415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freitag, M., & Ackerman, K. (2015). Direct democracy and institutional trust: Relationships and differences across personality traits. Political Psychology, 37(5), 707–723. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freitag, M., & Bauer, P. C. (2016). Personality traits and the propensity to trust friends and strangers. The Social Science Journal, 53(4), 467–476.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, A. S., Huber, G. A., Doherty, D., & Dowling, C. M. (2011). Personality traits and the consumption of political information. American Politics Research, 39(1), 32–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser, E. L., Laibson, D. I., Scheinkman, J. A., & Soutter, C. L. (2000). Measuring trust. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 811–846.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glatz, C., & Eder, A. (2019). Patterns of trust and subjective well-being across Europe: New insights from repeated cross-sectional analyses Based on the European Social Survey 2002–2016. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02212-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., & Zingales, L. (2006). Does culture affect economic outcomes? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(2), 23–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunnthorsdottir, A., McCabe, K., & Smith, V. (2002). Using the Machiavellianism instrument to predict trustworthiness in a bargaining game. Journal of Economic Psychology, 23(1), 49–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamamura, T., Li, L. M. W., & Chan, D. (2017). The association between generalized trust and physical and psychological health across societies. Social Indicators Research, 134(1), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1428-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirashi, K., Yamagata, S., Shikishima, C., & Ando, J. (2008). Maintenance of genetic variation in personality through control of mental mechanisms: A test of trust, extraversion, and agreeableness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(2), 79–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsiung, B. O., & Djupe, P. A. (2019). Religion and the extension of trust. Political Behaviour, 41, 609–631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-018-9466-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., Haerpfer, C., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J., et al., et al. (Eds.). (2014). World Values Survey: Round Six - Country-Pooled Datafile Version. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Institute of Social Studies (n.d). Indices of social development. Retrieved on February 14, 2020 from https://www.indsocdev.org/interpersonal-safety-and-trust.html.

  • Iroghama, I. P. (2012). Trust in government: A note from Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(6), 326–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, L. M., & Hunsberger, B. (1999). An intergroup perspective on religion and prejudice. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 38(4), 509–523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jalil, A., & Iffat, R. (2017). The economic payoffs of trust: an empirical investigation from developing countries Robust to Jackknife coefficients distribution. Social Indicators Research, 11(31), 1121–1144.

    Google Scholar 

  • John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. The Big Five Inventory. Versions 4a and 54. University of California, Institute of Personality and Social Research. Berkeley: 1991. Technical Report.

  • Johnson, N. D., & Mislin, A. A. (2011). Trust games: A meta-analysis. Journal of Economic Psychology, 32(5), 865–889.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshanloo, M., & Weijers, D. (2016). Religiosity moderates the relationship between income inequality and life satisfaction across the globe. Social Indicators Research, 128, 731–750.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kate, J., de Koster, W., & van der Waal, J. (2017). The effect of religiosity on life satisfaction in a secularized context: Assessing the relevance of believing and belonging. Review of Religion Research, 59, 135–155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-016-0282-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuenzi, T. M. (2008). Social capital and political trust in west Africa. AfroBarometer Working Paper, 96, 1–33.

  • Levine, E. E., Bitterly, T. B., Cohen, T. R., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2018). Who is trustworthy? Predicting trustworthy intentions and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(3), 468–494. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, W., & Lin, J. (2019). The role of meditation in college students’ neuroticism and mental health. Translational Neuroscience, 10, 112–117. https://doi.org/10.1515/tnsci-2019-0019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loveland, M. T., Capella, A. G., & Maisonet, I. (2017). Prosocialskeptics: Skepticism and generalized trust. Critical Research on Religion, 5(3), 251–265. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303217707245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1988). Familiarity, confidence, trust: Problems and alternatives. In D. Gambetta (Ed.), Trust: Making and breaking cooperative relationships (pp. 94–107). New York: Basic Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20, 709–734.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 81–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2003). Personality in adulthood. A five-factor theory perspective. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2008). The five-factor theory of personality. In O. P. John, R. W. Robin, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 159–181). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 60(2), 175–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendenhall, W., Beaver, R. J., & Beaver, B. M. (2009). An Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minton, E. A. (2019). Believing is buying: Religiosity, advertising skepticism, and corporate trust. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 16(1), 54–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/14766086.2018.1437764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mondak, J. J. (2010). Personality and the foundations of political behavior. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mondak, J. J., & Halperin, K. D. (2008). A framework for the study of personality and political behaviour. British Journal of Political Science, 38(2), 335–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montague, E., & Chiou, E. K. (2014). Trust in complex work systems: A focus on information and communication technologies. In C. Korunka & P. Hoonaker (Eds.), The impact of ICT on quality of working life (pp. 143–152). Netherlands: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooradian, T., Renz, B., & Matzler, K. (2006). Who trusts? Personality, trust and knowledge sharing. Management Learning, 37(4), 523–540. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507606073424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J., & Schwieren, C. (2019). Big Five personality factors in the Trust Game. Journal of Business Economics, 20(1), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-019-00928-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noll, H. (2002). Towards a European system of social indicators: Theoretical framework and system architecture. Social Indicators Research, 58, 47–87. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015775631413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noll, H. (2014). The European System of Social Indicators. In A. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nooteboom, B. (2007). Social capital, institutions and trust. Review of Social Economy, 65(1), 29–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuum, N., & Wantchekon, L. (2008). The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the evolution of mistrust in Africa: An empirical investigation. AfroBarometer Working Paper, 100, 1–38.

  • Nwoke, M. B., & Chukwuorji, J. C. (2011). Social change and personality development in a Nigerian sample. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 3(2), 164–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, B. (2002). A quantitative review of the comprehensiveness of the five-factor model in relation to popular personality inventories. Assessment, 9(2), 188–203. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191102092010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omoluabi, P. F. (2002). Big Five Inventory Manual. Lagos: PPC Nigeria Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD. (2013). Trust in government, policy effectiveness and the governance agenda. Government at a glance 2013 (pp. 19–37). Paris: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Roser, M. (2020). Trust. Retrieved on February 14, 2020 from: https://ourworldindata.org/trust'

  • Oskarsson, S., Dawes, C., Johannesson, M., & Magnusson, P. (2012). The genetic origins of social trust. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 15(1), 21–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palczyńska, M., & Świst, K. (2018). Personality, cognitive skills and life outcomes: evidence from the Polish follow-up study to PIAAC. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 6(2), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40536-018-0056-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research Centre (2019, November 15). Americans have positive views about religion’s role in society but want it out of politics. Retrieved on Februray 14, 2020 from https://www.pewforum.org/2019/11/15/americans-have-positive-views-about-religions-role-in-society-but-want-it-out-of-politics/

  • Pew Research Centre (2015). The future of world religions: Population growth projections, 2010–2050. Retrieved on Februray 14, 2020 from https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/

  • Pew Research Centre (2018). The age gap in religion around the world. Retrieved on February 14, 2020 from https://www.pewforum.org/2018/06/13/how-religious-commitment-varies-by-country-among-people-of-all-ages/

  • Poggi, A., Richetin, J., & Preti, E. (2019). Trust and rejection sensitivity in personality disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports, 21(69), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1059-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rammstedt, B., & John, O. P. (2007). Measuring personality in one minute or less: A 10-item short version of the big five inventory in english and German. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 203–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, B. W. (2009). Back to the future: Personality and assessment and personality development. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 137–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. E., & Sung, J. J. (2000). Neighborhood disorder, fear, and mistrust: The buffering role of social ties with neighbors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 401–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B. (1967). A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. Journal of Personality, 35, 651–665.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B. (1980). Interpersonal trust, trustworthiness, and gullibility. American Psychologist, 35, 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salehi, A., Harris, N., Marzban, M., & Coyne, E. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis of scales measuring trust, and control-self-efficacy of young Iranian women? Social Indicators Research, 124(3), 1033–1047. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0808-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schacter, D. S., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2011). Psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, H., & Steinbrecher, M. (2013). Beyond total effects: Exploring the interplay of personality and attitudes in affecting turnout in the 2009 German federal election. Political Psychology, 34(4), 533–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoenfeld, E. (1978). Image of man: The effect of religion on trust: A research note. Review of Religious Research, 20(1), 61–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah, A. S., Jalil, A., & Shah, S. A. H. (2020). Growth effects of religion dependent social capital: An empirical evidence. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02253-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah, S. S. (2019). On trust dynamics of economic growth, MPRA, paper No 94095. Germany: University Library of Munich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smaldino, P. E., Lukaszewski, A., von Rueden, C., & Gurven, M. (2019). Niche diversity can explain cross-cultural differences in personality structure. Nature Human Behaviour, 3, 1276–1283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Son, J., & Feng, Q. (2019). In social capital we trust? Social Indicators Research, 144(1), 167–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-2026-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sønderskov, K. M., & Dinesen, P. T. (2016). Trusting the state, trusting each other? The effect of institutional trust on social trust. Political Behaviour, 38(1), 179–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-015-9322-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sudzina, F. (2017). Do gender and personality traits (BFI-10) influence trust? A replication. Central European Journal of Management, 3(1), 47–53. https://doi.org/10.5817/CEJM2016-1-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, J. H. W. (2006). Religion and social preferences: An experimental study. Economics Letters, 90(1), 60–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taormina, R. J. (2013). Measuring trust in China: Resolving Eastern and Western differences in concepts of trust. Presented at the Third Asian Conference of Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences (28–31 March) at Osaka, Japan.

  • Tong, J. K. C., & Yang, F. (2016). Trust at work: A study on faith and trust of protestant entrepreneurs in China. Religions, 7, 136–148. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7120136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Transparency International (2020). Corruption perception index 2019. Retrieved on February 27, 2020 from www.transparency.org

  • Traunmüller, R. (2009). Individual religiosity, religious context, and the creation of social trust in Germany. Journal of Applied Social Science Studies, 129(2), 357–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umeh, C. S. (2004). The impact of personality characteristics on students’ adjustment on campus. Research Monograph at Department of Psychology: University of Lagos.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Uslaner, E. M. (2016). A reconsideration of Olivera’s “changes in inequality and generalized trust in Europe.” Social Indicators Research, 128(2), 723–729.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welch, M. R., Sikkink, D., & Loveland, M. T. (2007). The radius of trust: Religion, social embeddedness and trust in strangers. Social Forces, 86(1), 23–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welch, M. R., Sikkink, D., Sartain, E., & Bond, C. (2004). Trust in God and trust in man: The ambivalent role of religion in shaping dimensions of social trust. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 43(3), 317–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank Group. (2013). World Development Report 2013: Jobs. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, E. L., Jr. (1988). Understanding the value of religious clients: a model and its application to counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 35, 166–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wuthnow, R. (2002). Religious involvement and status-bridging social capital. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41(4), 669–684.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, H., Liu, Y., & Liang, J. (2018). How religion impacts deception and trust behavior: Evidence from a lab-in-the-field experiment in China. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 11(4), 239–248. https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000095.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamagishi, T., Akutsu, S., Cho, K., Inoue, Y., Li, Y., & Matsumoto, Y. (2015). Two-component model of general trust: Predicting behavioral trust from attitudinal trust. Social Cognition, 33, 436–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamagishi, T., & Yamagishi, M. (1994). Trust and Commitment in the United States and Japan. Motivation and Emotion, 18(2), 129–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ye, S. (2018). Trust, social support and adaptation: A study of international students in Japan. International Journal of Culture and History, 4(2), 13–18. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijch.2018.4.2.115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, K., & Smillie, L. D. (2015). The role of interpersonal traits in social decision making: Exploring sources of behavioral heterogeneity in economic games. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19, 277–302.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

None of the authors received funding for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state, 410001, Nigeria

    Gerald E. Ezirim, Peter O. Mbah & Ejikeme J. Nwagwu

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state, 410001, Nigeria

    Ikechukwu Charles Eze & JohnBosco C. Chukwuorji

  3. Department of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    George C. Nche

  4. Department of Psychology, College of Sciences and the Health Professions, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, 44115, USA

    JohnBosco C. Chukwuorji

  5. Promotion of Health and Innovation Lab (PHI), Network for Wellbeing, Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria

    JohnBosco C. Chukwuorji

Authors
  1. Gerald E. Ezirim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter O. Mbah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ejikeme J. Nwagwu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ikechukwu Charles Eze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. George C. Nche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. JohnBosco C. Chukwuorji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to George C. Nche.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ezirim, G.E., Mbah, P.O., Nwagwu, E.J. et al. Trust and Trustworthiness in a Sub-Saharan African Sample: Contributions of Personality and Religiosity. Soc Indic Res 153, 1087–1107 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02536-z

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02536-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation