engleski

Determinants of trust: Lessons from a divided post-conflict community

Trust is a vital element of human relations. It is a kind of social glue that is equally important for interpersonal as for intergroup relations. At the societal level it has been considered as a part of social capital that enables society to be functional, prosperous, and relatively stable. Because of its social significance violation of trust is one of major transgression in human relations. When it happens in the context of intergroup conflict and massive violence, the consequences of broken intergroup trust shape the post-conflict intergroup dynamics with a profound and long-lasting influence. We conducted the research on intergroup trust in post-conflict community of the city of Vukovar, Croatia, where 1991-1995 war has left a distressing legacy of enormous material destruction, massive traumatization and deep disruption of formerly amicable and interconnected social relations between two major ethnic groups – Croats and Serbs. The processes of social recovery have been very slow with only minor improvements of intergroup relations and social trust. The aim of the present study is to disentangle some of determinants of (postconflict) intergroup trust in this highly divided community. We analyzed sociodemographics, identity variables, intergroup emotions and personal and collective victimization in an adult sample of 333 Croats and Serbs. Results showed that ethnic identity was fairly strong predictor, while intergroups emotions, especially those negative, proved to be the strongest determinants of intergroup (mis)trust. Somewhat surprisingly, personal victimization was only of a marginal significance while perception of collective victimhood appeared to be of a minor relevance. Implications of the findings for trust-building in post-conflict settings will be discussed by emphasizing the role of identity and in-group closure and especially the long-lasting strong intergroup emotional reactions after the conflict.

trust; intergroup relations; post-conflict community

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