The Role of School Climate in Explaining Changes in Social Trust Over Time |
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| Authors: | Erik Lundberg Ali Abdelzadeh |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden;2. School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, ?rebro University, ?rebro, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | School is often ranked highly among social agents that are central to the development of various citizenship values and norms in younger members of society. In this paper, we examined the impact of two dimensions of school climate on changes in social trust among adolescents over time, namely relationships and safety. Using a series of latent change models on 3-wave panel data concerning roughly 850 Swedish adolescents aged 16 to 18 years, we found that experiences of victimization in school mattered most in predicting changes in social trust across 3 time points, when relevant demographic factors and other aspects of the school climate were controlled. In particular, social trust declined most among adolescents who experienced more victimization at school. |
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| Keywords: | Social trust school climate adolescents teachers victimization |
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