Universität zu Köln

Wingen, Andrea ORCID: 0000-0002-5781-7252 (2023). Ethnic diversity and trust in the school context: When do adolescents trust their peers and people in general? PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

PDF Dissertation_Andrea Wingen_kups.pdf Download (1MB)

Abstract

SUMMARY OF THE DISSERTATION ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND TRUST IN THE SCHOOL CONTEXT: WHEN DO ADOLESCENTS TRUST THEIR PEERS AND PEOPLE IN GENERAL? BY ANDREA WINGEN Trust is an essential part of social life and important for successful human interaction. Especially social trust, that is trust in strangers, is crucial and has been linked to numerous positive consequences for individuals and society as a whole. This thesis focuses on trust in little-known and unknown peers and people in general, in particular during early adolescence – an age group which has received very little attention in research so far. Thereby, I focus on possible influencing factors specific to the school context. Schools as places where young people spend the majority of their time in close proximity to many other peers likely shape adolescents’ understanding of the world they live in and their place within it and thereby influence their trust in other people. The first and second studies presented in this thesis (Chapters 2 and 3) suggest that the group composition within the school grade and class relates to adolescents’ social trust within and beyond the school context. The share of the ethnic majority (i.e., students without migration background) in the school grade positively relates to students' trust in unknown peers within the school grade and people in general (Chapter 2). The alignment of ethnic origin and gender in the school class (i.e., if many fellow students of the same ethnic origin also belong to the same gender, while many students of another ethnic origin belong to a different gender) is negatively associated with both types of social trust for ethnic majority students (Chapter 3). This thesis further analyses the relationship between individuals’ social standing within the school grade and trust in little-known (Chapter 4) as well as unknown peers and people in general. In contrast to the group composition within the school class or grade, the social standing within the school grade is associated differently with trust in people in general compared to trust in little-known or unknown peers within the school grade. Overall, this thesis illustrates the importance of the school context in shaping adolescents’ trust in peers and people in general.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Wingen, Andrea wingen@wiso.uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0002-5781-7252 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-650657
Date:	2023
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Sociology and Social Psychology > Department of Scociology
Subjects:	Psychology Social sciences
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Social Trust UNSPECIFIED Adolescence UNSPECIFIED Schools UNSPECIFIED Ethnic diversity UNSPECIFIED Attribute alignment UNSPECIFIED Social hierarchies UNSPECIFIED
Date of oral exam:	27 February 2023
Referee:	Name Academic Title Kroneberg, Clemens Prof. Dr. Ellwardt, Lea Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/65065