Can general and particularistic types of trust mix? Advancing the trust (dis-)continuity debate in a Chinese context
Horak, S.; Klein, A.; Li, X. (2022). Can general and particularistic types of
trust mix? Advancing the trust (dis-)continuity debate in a Chinese context.
International Journal of Emerging Markets, 17(5), 1273-1291. DOI:
10.1108/IJOEM-07-2020-0745
Link:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-07-2020-0745
Abstract
We challenge the discontinuity (also called incompatibility) hypothesis of
generalized and particularistic trust, suggesting that the two types of trust
are incompatible, that is, one does not influence the other. This view is
problematic because if so, it remains unclear, for instance, how communities
scoring high in particularistic trust can ever develop further when transferring
trust to spheres outside the community is not an option. In this research, we
explore the potential permeability of different types of trust in an emerging
market context using the case of China. Using a purposeful sampling technique,
we gathered data among Chinese professionals (n = 290) in the Jingjinji
metropolitan region in Tianjin. The data was analyzed by performing structural
equation modeling in SPSS Amos 23. As we identify interdependencies between
generalized and particularistic types of trust, our results speak in favor of
the continuity hypothesis. We find that the more people trust other people from
an outside group (out-group trust), the less they trust quasi-familiar others
(in-group trust). Further, in-group trust increases once the environment urges
people to engage in informal network (guanxi)-based transactions. Advancing the
common view of China being a typical low-trust society, in which distrust in
strangers (i.e., outsiders) prevails, we find a recent trend of an increase in
general trust, which might lead to increases of out-group and in-group trust
alike. Contrary to the widespread idea that guanxi is declining in the present
day we find guanxi to be persistent.
Keywords
Trust continuity, general trust, particularistic trust, in-group trust,
out-group trust, China, emerging markets, guanxi importance.