Title: Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why | Pew Research Center
Headings: Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why
Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why
An International Perspective
Why Do We Trust?
Where Do We Trust?
At What Age Do We Trust?
Other Groups that Have a Distinctive Take on Trust
Group Traits that Matter Just a Little – or Not at All
About the Survey
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Content: The middle-aged and the elderly are more trusting than the young. People who live in rural areas are more trusting than those who live in cities. By contrast, the survey also found that there are some demographic and political traits that have little or no correlation to levels of social trust. Men and women; Republicans and Democrats; liberals and conservatives; Protestants and Catholics and the secular — all of these groups have roughly similar levels of trust. As for the population as a whole, Americans are closely divided on the following question: “ Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?” Some 45% of respondents in the Pew survey say the former, while 50% say the latter.