Education and Social Trust: Testing a Causal Hypothesis Using the Discordant Twin Design
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Education and Social Trust : Testing a Causal Hypothesis Using the Discordant Twin Design. / Oskarsson, Sven; Dinesen, Peter Thisted; Dawes, Christopher; Johanneson, Magnus; Magnusson, Patrik.
I: Political Psychology, Bind 38, Nr. 3, 8, 2017, s. 515-531.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Education and Social Trust
T2 - Testing a Causal Hypothesis Using the Discordant Twin Design
AU - Oskarsson, Sven
AU - Dinesen, Peter Thisted
AU - Dawes, Christopher
AU - Johanneson, Magnus
AU - Magnusson, Patrik
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - One of the clearest results in previous studies on social trust is the robust positive relationship with educational attainment. The most common interpretation is that education has a causal effect on social trust. The theoretical argument and empirical results in this article suggest a different interpretation. We argue that common preadult factors such as cognitive abilities and personality traits rooted in genes and early-life family environment may confound the relationship between educational attainment and social trust. We provide new evidence on this question by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and social trust within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs, we are able to avoid potential confounders rooted in genetic factors and common environmental influences because the monozygotic twins share both. The results suggest that when controlling for such familial factors the estimated effects of education on social trust are close to zero and far from reaching statistical significance. Further analyses show that the relationship between education and social trust largely is driven by common genetic factors.
AB - One of the clearest results in previous studies on social trust is the robust positive relationship with educational attainment. The most common interpretation is that education has a causal effect on social trust. The theoretical argument and empirical results in this article suggest a different interpretation. We argue that common preadult factors such as cognitive abilities and personality traits rooted in genes and early-life family environment may confound the relationship between educational attainment and social trust. We provide new evidence on this question by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and social trust within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs, we are able to avoid potential confounders rooted in genetic factors and common environmental influences because the monozygotic twins share both. The results suggest that when controlling for such familial factors the estimated effects of education on social trust are close to zero and far from reaching statistical significance. Further analyses show that the relationship between education and social trust largely is driven by common genetic factors.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - education
KW - social trust
KW - discordant
KW - twin design
KW - Cholesky
KW - decomposition
U2 - 10.1111/pops.12343
DO - 10.1111/pops.12343
M3 - Journal article
VL - 38
SP - 515
EP - 531
JO - Political Psychology
JF - Political Psychology
SN - 0162-895X
IS - 3
M1 - 8
ER -
ID: 157550015