The Relation between Religious Identity and Social Trust among the Students of Mazandaran University

Social trust is a necessary part of social life and it is integrated into social capital. This article studies the relation between the degree of one's religious identity and social trust among students. This survey has used interviews and classified sampling consisting of 400 students in Mazandaran University in 92-93 academic year. The results show that there is a direct and meaningful relation between the ideological aspect of religious identity and total social trust and institutional trust. There is a direct relation between the experimental dimension of religious identity and the whole social trust. The consequential aspect of religious identity is in a direct and meaningful relation with institutional trust. The same relation exists between the ritual aspect of religious identity and social identity in all its aspects. In general, religious identity is in a direct and meaningful relation with social trust in its totality. Besides, 24% of interpersonal trust changes, 20% of extended trust changes and 18% of institutional trust changes are explained through religious identity.