General and 'neighbourly' trust in border regions: An analysis of the influence of disintegration experience and of self-enhancement mentalities in the german-czech border regions

Abstract

This article examines the question of appropriate individual-level predictors of generalised and 'neighbourly' cross-border trust in a general population survey in the adjacent border regions of Germany and the Czech Republic (N = 1129). It studies the impact of perceived economic, political, and spatial disintegration (as defined by Heitmeyer) and of self-enhancement mentalities (hierarchic self-interest, xenophobia) on generalised and particular, in this case 'neighbourly' cross-border trust, as well as the interrelation of the two types of trust. In line with earlier studies in the field, it emerged that, although being significant predictors of trust, neither perceived disintegration nor self-enhancement mentalities predict generalised trust well. Less than 5% of the variance was explained. In conjunction with contextual predictors (contact density and historic narratives), generalised trust, however, was a very good predictor of cross-border trust. © Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Praha 2012.