Abstract:

Based on the 2004 survey data in Xiamen， this paper ilustrates the composition of urban residents’ trust and its influencing factors. Factor analysis discovers three factors in urban residents’ trust： universal trust， general trust， and special trust， among which universal trust is the lowest， special trust the highest， and general trust in between. Multiple regression analysis shows that， besides predictor variables such as sex， age and income， universal trust is significantly associated with social group participation. However， social group participation is independent of general trust or special trust. In order to build stronger universal trust among urban residents in China， it is very important to facilitate their social group participation.

Key words: trust, social capital, social group participation