Ethnic Diversity and Generalised Trust in Modern European Societies

Abstract

This paper investigates the dominant perspective in society that ethnic diversity leads to a decline of social cohesion and more specifically, generalised trust among the ethnic majority group. Also the role of interethnic contact within this relationship is examined. Data from the European Social Survey from 2014 is used. This data includes respondents from 17 modern European societies. Multiple regression analyses showed that ethnic diversity in the neighbourhood affects generalised trust among the ethnic majority group, although the extent of ethnic diversity matters for the direction of the observed effect. No evidence was found for a moderating effect of interethnic contact. The evidence for a negative effect of ethnic diversity should not be overstated, thus adding this paper to the European literature on ethnic diversity that states that no substantial negative consequences for social cohesion are found.