Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Race, gender, and trust

MIDUS respondents were asked if they agreed with this statement: "I know that I can trust my friends, and they know they can trust me."  Answers ranged from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Here are the means (N = 3,997):

Mean trust score

White men 5.16
Black men 4.89
White women 5.33 
Black women 4.59*

*significantly lower than white women

The real gap here is between white and black women: it's almost two-thirds of a standard deviation, a large difference. White women, on average, are much more trusting of their friends.

1 comment:

Are gun owners mentally ill?

  Some anti-gun people think owning a gun is a sign of some kind of mental abnormality. According to General Social Survey data, gun owners ...