I think it has to do with population density. Living in a city of millions gives a sense of anonymity. Even if you've lived there for decades, you step outside and it's a sea of strangers.
In smaller towns or suburbs, people know each other. If someone scams you, word will get around. That makes it much easier to trust others, because there is more communal accountability.
The US has very low population density, more suburbs and small towns while China is full of mega cities. I can see why the average Chinese person is more distrustful than the average American.
And yet this doesn't match up at all with the World Values Survey posted above.
What makes far more sense to me is that people become more or less trusting based on their perception of threat to themselves. In China, where things have generally gotten better over the last couple generations, trust is up - but in America, where things have generally gotten worse over the same period, trust is down.
I think it has to do with population density. Living in a city of millions gives a sense of anonymity. Even if you've lived there for decades, you step outside and it's a sea of strangers.
In smaller towns or suburbs, people know each other. If someone scams you, word will get around. That makes it much easier to trust others, because there is more communal accountability.
The US has very low population density, more suburbs and small towns while China is full of mega cities. I can see why the average Chinese person is more distrustful than the average American.
And yet this doesn't match up at all with the World Values Survey posted above.
What makes far more sense to me is that people become more or less trusting based on their perception of threat to themselves. In China, where things have generally gotten better over the last couple generations, trust is up - but in America, where things have generally gotten worse over the same period, trust is down.
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This was a really sus comment dude, what's your deal?
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wtf... :reddit-logo: :sus-deep: