Trust, social quality and wellbeing: a sociological exegesis

Abstract

This paper provides an argument regarding the centrality of ‘trust’ for the development and maintenance of ‘social quality,’ and ultimately for the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and societies. Within the Social Quality theory, trust is located within one of the four conditional domains: social cohesion. This paper provides a background to Social Quality theory within a political and theoretical context in order to demonstrate that trust underpins a number of the social systems that play a role in the development and maintenance of social quality; therefore, we argue that trust underpins ‘social quality’ and hence the Social Quality theory. We suggest ways in which current social theories of trust may be situated within the Social Quality theory, in terms of the normative and conditional factors. Evidence is provided to support the argument that trust plays a more significant role in social quality than the current model suggests.