Explaining large-N cooperation: Generalized social trust and the social exchange heuristic

This paper presents a new argument that links generalized social trust and collective action in situations with a large number of actors who do not have specific information on each other. Generalized social trust enhances large-N cooperation through the social exchange heuristic, which stimulates c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rationality and society 2011-02, Vol.23 (1), p.51-74
Main Author: Sonderskov, Kim Mannemar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collective action
Cooperation
Exchange
Exchange Theory
Heuristic
Heuristics
Individual differences
Macroanalysis
Reciprocity
Recycling
Social dilemmas
Social exchange theory
Social integration. Social relations. Social participation
Social organization. Social system. Social structure
Sociology
Stimuli
Surveys
Trust
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Summary:This paper presents a new argument that links generalized social trust and collective action in situations with a large number of actors who do not have specific information on each other. Generalized social trust enhances large-N cooperation through the social exchange heuristic, which stimulates conditional cooperation in social dilemmas. Using data from a survey in four countries and recycling behavior as an indicator of collective action, this explanation is tested with individual-level data. While the relationship between generalized social trust and large-N collective action is often hypothesized, there is scant micro-level evidence as it has mainly been tested at the macro level. The results show that people holding generalized social trust cooperate more readily in large-N dilemmas, and that they most likely do so because of the social exchange heuristic.
ISSN:1043-4631
1461-7358
DOI:10.1177/1043463110396058