ANALYZING RELIGION AND TRUST RELATIONSHIP FROM TURKISH PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between religion and trust using the Turkish sample from the World Values Surveys (WVS). This study focuses on a majority Muslim nation that has been institutionally secular and democratic for more than 90 years. This study explores the longitudinal relationship between religion and trust from 2001 to 2012, a period of significant social transformation. Over this period, the effects of religion's covariates on trust outcomes are consistent. However, the findings explore mix supports to the existing literature. Namely, the effects of religious affiliation and behaviour vary on trust outcomes. This study also investigates possible correlations between trust components, and the results do not support the previous findings.