Does Political Trust Matter for Charitable Giving? The Antecedence and Consequence of Trust in Local Officials

This study examines the antecedents of political trust and its association with the likelihood of charitable giving in China using the path analysis model. The results show that morality and competence matter for political trust. Unlike most existing studies that separately test the impact of political trust and general social trust on charitable giving, this research pays attention to the significant association between political trust and general social trust in the Chinese state-centered environment and explores the role of general social trust in bridging political trust and charitable giving. Using a nationally representative sample, this research finds that political trust indirectly shapes charitable giving through the effect of general social trust in China. Individuals with a higher level of political trust also show more trust in society and have a higher probability of donating.