A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in perceived social trust across 22 countries

Although social trust is most often studied as an individual disposition to examine the extent to which an individual trusts other people, less attention has been paid to how much one perceives other people in one's society to trust one another. This study focuses on the latter, "perceived social trust," as an indicator of societal well-being. Using nationally representative samples from 22 countries across six continents (N = 202,898), we examine cross-national variation in perceived social trust and its demographic correlates. Although some aspects of national rankings based on this new measure align with those based on conventional trust metrics, notable deviations emerged: Indonesia and the Philippines-previously found to be low-trust societies-ranked among the highest in perceived trust, whereas the United States-often ranked more highly-was at the bottom of perceived trust. These findings suggest that cultural norms and sociopolitical contexts may shape individuals' perceptions of social trust. A random-effects meta-analysis further reveals that some demographic predictors, such as age, gender, and employment status, follow established patterns, while others, including education and religious service attendance, diverge. These findings suggest that perceived social trust may serve as a descriptive indicator of perceived social cohesion and provide information about how people perceive trust within their societies.