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Discussion and Conclusion: The Promise of Social Success

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Book cover The Paradox of Diversity

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Abstract

This book has empirically assessed the distinction between bridging and bonding associations by analyzing the activities and organizational features of Turkish and mixed ethnicity voluntary organizations in Amsterdam . The main questions in this study are: (1) does interethnic contact explain greater adherence to generalized trust among participants of mixed voluntary organizations as compared to Turkish organizations ; and (2) are there alternative mechanisms responsible for generating generalized trust? The pattern of findings suggests that interethnic contact, or bridging and bonding, does not explain the differences in generalized trust among participants of voluntary organizations. On the contrary, social success factors explain greater adherence to generalized trust. Moreover, participants of voluntary organizations seem to self-select into those organizations on the basis of their initial levels of generalized trust . Educational attainment constitutes the largest effect size.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This contradicts Putnam’s (2000: 136–7) aggregate analysis, which links civic engagement to trust. Paxton (2007) also suggests in her review of the literature that the causal path seems to run from joining to trust, although she does not offer any empirical support for this claim.

  2. 2.

    There are some notable exceptions, such as Otten et al. (2010), but this study conflates social trust with identification with the Netherlands.

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  1. Applied Economics, Free University Brussels, Brussels, Belgium

    Wahideh Achbari

  2. Political Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Wahideh Achbari

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Achbari, W. (2016). Discussion and Conclusion: The Promise of Social Success. In: The Paradox of Diversity. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44243-3_5

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