<blockquote>
<p>Why do non-white developing countries have less trust among their population?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They do not have less trust the way how you define them so there is no paradox to explain.</p>
<p>First, there is no generally accepted definition of white person and white country. Who is white is socially determined and unrelated to skin color. For example, Slavic people are considered to be people of color in some places (See <a href="https://www.coalitioncommunitiescolor.org/whoweare" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CCC</a>). Similarly Jewish people or Hispanic people are in some countries seen as non-white and in others as white. Hence there is no general answer to this question as there is no objective definition of what white person or country is (there is no objective level of melanin in your skin that turns you into non-white).</p>
<p>This being said, in your question you say you define white countries as:</p>
<p>&quot;Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia&quot;</p>
<p>And non-white countries as:</p>
<p>&quot;India, Pakistan, Bangladesh&quot;</p>
<p>For these 7 countries it is simply not true that the &quot;white&quot; countries, as you define them, have higher level of trust in the society.</p>
<p>We can see from <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/trust" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Our World in Data dataset on trust</a>, that literally India has out of the 7 countries you mentioned highest trust in society in the last year for which data are available. Much higher than Ukraine, Russia or other 'white' countries as defined by you. Ukraine has the same level of trust as Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Georgia and Romania have so little trust in their societies that  they are miles below Pakistan and Bangladesh when it comes to trust.</p>
<p>Hence your perception these countries have lower levels of trust is simply not based on reality, but probably some sort of prejudice.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/NHFDX.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/NHFDX.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T09:22:36.583Z
@Giskard, Scamming is more prevalent in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Also, breaking agreements. This is my personal experience.
user366312
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T10:05:47.613Z
@user366312 arguments from personal experience are not valid. You just might had bad luck. Also, if you come from certain country you know how to navigate it better. Ukraine might be much more dangerous place than India, but if you are born in Ukraine and know which places to avoid and then travel to India and walk with nice watch in extremely bad neighborhood of course you will have a personal experience of India being worse than Ukraine since every country is safer conditional on having local knowledge, but that would not make your home country objectively safer all else being equal
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T09:01:08.530Z
2022-10-10T09:01:08.530Z
1muflon1
<p>According to economic theory, social trust is one of the most important factors for economic growth.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@konnks666/what-is-social-trust-2457fef85c7a" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Social trust is a perception of the honesty, integrity, and reliability of others — a “faith in a human being” - in the society.</a></p>
<p>The theory says that developed countries have more social trust among their populations. However, it doesn't say why developing countries have less trust among their population.</p>
<p>I have come into contact with people from some poor countries in Europe, e.g., Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, and Armenia, etc. They seem to have a fair amount of trust among themselves, as opposed to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.</p>
<p>As far as my personal experience goes, scamming, breaking verbal agreements, telling lies for no reason, poor work ethics, and office politics are more prevalent in the subcontinent.</p>
<p>Why do non-European developing countries have less social trust?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T08:27:58.093Z
1. Do you also have some evidence for less trust in those countries? 2. How do you define non-white? Do Slavic people count as non-white? (In some countries they are considered different race) are Hispanic people supposed to be treated as non white (in EU they are considered white in US they are considered to be people of color). Maybe instead of some socially constructed distinction you could use some objective one
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T09:14:20.540Z
"*Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, etc. They seem to have a fair amount of trust among themselves*" This goes against my personal experience quite a bit.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T09:22:32.510Z
@Giskard, Scamming is more prevalent in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Also, breaking agreements. This is my personal experience.
user366312
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T10:10:55.117Z
I believe you. But personal experience is frequently non-reflective of societal processes. As the others point out, you should define your concepts (e.g., "white", trust") more precisely, and also support your claim with non-anecdotal (preferably academic) reference.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T18:03:33.380Z
I'm downvoting this question because:  1) No specification of or link to the theory mentioned, from which in particular readers might have been able to find the relevant definition of "trust". 2) Much reliance on personal observation which, however extensive, may not be representative of the countries mentioned.  3) No explanation of why you choose to focus on white / non-white when the countries identified as high/low trust might equally plausibly be characterised as, eg temperate / sub-tropical.  I will be happy to withdraw my downvote if these points can be satisfactorily addressed.
Adam Bailey
<population-economics>
Why do non-European developing countries have less trust among their population?
user366312
# Why do non-European developing countries have less trust among their population?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-10)

According to economic theory, social trust is one of the most important factors for economic growth.

[Social trust is a perception of the honesty, integrity, and reliability of others — a “faith in a human being” - in the society.](https://medium.com/@konnks666/what-is-social-trust-2457fef85c7a)

The theory says that developed countries have more social trust among their populations. However, it doesn't say why developing countries have less trust among their population.

I have come into contact with people from some poor countries in Europe, e.g., Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, and Armenia, etc. They seem to have a fair amount of trust among themselves, as opposed to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.

As far as my personal experience goes, scamming, breaking verbal agreements, telling lies for no reason, poor work ethics, and office politics are more prevalent in the subcontinent.

Why do non-European developing countries have less social trust?

**Tags:** population-economics
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 1. Do you also have some evidence for less trust in those countries? 2. How do you define non-white? Do Slavic people count as non-white? (In some countries they are considered different race) are Hispanic people supposed to be treated as non white (in EU they are considered white in US they are considered to be people of color). Maybe instead of some socially constructed distinction you could use some objective one  
> **username_2**: "*Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, etc. They seem to have a fair amount of trust among themselves*" This goes against my personal experience quite a bit.  
> **username_0**: @Giskard, Scamming is more prevalent in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Also, breaking agreements. This is my personal experience.  
> **username_2**: I believe you. But personal experience is frequently non-reflective of societal processes. As the others point out, you should define your concepts (e.g., "white", trust") more precisely, and also support your claim with non-anecdotal (preferably academic) reference.  
> **username_3**: I'm downvoting this question because:  1) No specification of or link to the theory mentioned, from which in particular readers might have been able to find the relevant definition of "trust". 2) Much reliance on personal observation which, however extensive, may not be representative of the countries mentioned.  3) No explanation of why you choose to focus on white / non-white when the countries identified as high/low trust might equally plausibly be characterised as, eg temperate / sub-tropical.  I will be happy to withdraw my downvote if these points can be satisfactorily addressed.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-10-10. Score: 2

> Why do non-white developing countries have less trust among their population?

They do not have less trust the way how you define them so there is no paradox to explain.

First, there is no generally accepted definition of white person and white country. Who is white is socially determined and unrelated to skin color. For example, Slavic people are considered to be people of color in some places (See [CCC](https://www.coalitioncommunitiescolor.org/whoweare)). Similarly Jewish people or Hispanic people are in some countries seen as non-white and in others as white. Hence there is no general answer to this question as there is no objective definition of what white person or country is (there is no objective level of melanin in your skin that turns you into non-white).

This being said, in your question you say you define white countries as:

"Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia"

And non-white countries as:

"India, Pakistan, Bangladesh"

For these 7 countries it is simply not true that the "white" countries, as you define them, have higher level of trust in the society.

We can see from [Our World in Data dataset on trust](https://ourworldindata.org/trust), that literally India has out of the 7 countries you mentioned highest trust in society in the last year for which data are available. Much higher than Ukraine, Russia or other 'white' countries as defined by you. Ukraine has the same level of trust as Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Georgia and Romania have so little trust in their societies that they are miles below Pakistan and Bangladesh when it comes to trust.

Hence your perception these countries have lower levels of trust is simply not based on reality, but probably some sort of prejudice.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/NHFDX.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/NHFDX.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @Giskard, Scamming is more prevalent in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Also, breaking agreements. This is my personal experience.  
> **username_1**: @user366312 arguments from personal experience are not valid. You just might had bad luck. Also, if you come from certain country you know how to navigate it better. Ukraine might be much more dangerous place than India, but if you are born in Ukraine and know which places to avoid and then travel to India and walk with nice watch in extremely bad neighborhood of course you will have a personal experience of India being worse than Ukraine since every country is safer conditional on having local knowledge, but that would not make your home country objectively safer all else being equal  

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