A Sociological Study of Culture of Trust among Students from Four Different Ethnic Groups of Azeris, Persians, Kurds and Lors Studying at Tarbiat Moallem University in Tehran

This paper studies the culture of trust among ethnic groups and measures its effective social factors. To do so, after reviewing the theoretical perspectives and empirical sources, an appropriate framework was prepared in which the basic assumptions are discussed and tested. The research was conducted based on multiple research methods (survey and documentation methods) in which 400 students from four ethnic groups including, Azeri, Persian, Kurd and Lor were sampled and tested by using a questionnaire at the Tarbiat Moallem University. Results show the average level of culture of trust among ethnic Azeri, Persian and Lor students, is higher than the average. But the average of culture of trust between Kurds is less than the moderate level and the mean of trust in other three ethnic groups excepting the Azeries is lower than moderate level. Regression analysis showed that the subsequent multiple correlation co-efficient regarding the culture of trust among the ethnic groups is 0.55. Also, there are some factors influencing the inter-ethnic trust including: the variables stereotyping 36%, inter-ethnic confidence 27%, general confidence or trust 10%, political trust 10% and ethnicity is 14%. The result showed that such variables as the sense of ethnic identity, ethnocentrism, and perceived discrimination, ethnic and inter-ethnic interaction are not effective in reducing or increasing the trust between ethnic groups.