A very strong association between percent white and trust

As a follow-up to the last post, I calculated across the nine General Social Survey regional divisions the correlation for the past decade between trusting people in general and the percent of the population that is white. It is .82--a very strong link.

Like we're surprised--Northern states are most trusting

Gallup asked almost 180,000 Americans if they would trust someone who found their wallet to return it. The darkest states on the map indicate the most trusting states. Gallup concluded that states with higher of levels of well-being and access to services are more trusting. They seem to be hinting that collectivism breeds trust.

Collectivist California and New York are two of the most untrusting states in the country. And D.C. has half the level of trust seen in Utah--that bastion of liberalism.

It goes with out saying that percent white and ethnic homogeneity were not mentioned.