Confidence in Institutions: Findings from the Norwegian Values Study

Abstract

This article reports on an analyses of factors related to confidence in institutions The data are from the 1982 Norwegian Values Study It turns out that the unidimensionality of confidence is strong, but there is some tendency that confidence in social order comes out as a separate dimension in a factor analysis. Using two dependent variables in the analysis, one measuring overall confidence in institutions and one focusing on the confidence in the institutions of social order, these are then correlated with various independent variables The most consistent finding is that the personal satis factions of an individual contribute to confidence in institutions. Basic political attitudes and values have some impact, especially on the social order com ponent. A weak effect of age can also be discerned. Younger people have less confidence in institutions than the older age groups.

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