Does Trust in Others Promote the Formation of Social Ties?

An Empirical Study Using Panel Data on Organizational Entry

Abstract

Does trust in others promote the formation of social ties? This study seeks to answer this question. Trust and social networks are considered part of social capital, and they typically exhibit statistically significant positive relationships. These positive relationships have been analyzed extensively, primarily based on the assumption that a well-developed network fosters higher trust. Conversely, the existence of a causal relationship in the opposite direction―namely, that “trust enables cooperative interactions and promotes the formation of new social ties among people”―has been theoretically suggested. However, this hypothesis remains to be empirically tested. Addressing this question requires（1）measuring the relationship between preceding trust and subsequent changes in personal network size and（2）observing enough cases of network size changes. To satisfy these requirements, the author conducted an online panel survey on the“ simultaneous recruitment of new graduates,” which is a distinctive feature of the Japanese labor market. This research design aims to determine the effect of prior trust on subsequent changes in network size. Analyses using four network indicators and three trust indicators revealed the existence of positive relationships between pre-employment trust and increases in social ties after entering an organization. These new findings fill the gaps of previous studies and have important implications for future studies as well as for social issues such as social isolation.