More trust among those who have more: The impact of capital and perceived inequality on political trust

Abstract

Political trust is important in democratic societies, especially people‘s trust in the national parliament and its members. The aim of this study is to examine, in a more comprehensive manner than previously, how individual position in the Icelandic stratificaton system shapes political trust. The data come from the Icelandic Social Science Survey gathered in 2020. The findings are interepreted by drawing on the class theory of French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, which holds that class position is not only shaped by economic capital, but also cultural, social, and symbolic capital. Moreover, we introduce new measures of these major dimensions of capital. Our findings suggest that economic capital (purchasing power) and symbolic capital (subjective prestige) increase political trust, partly because those with high levels of capital are less likely to consider income inequality in Iceland a problem.