Social trust, political trust and digital activism: unfolding the causal mechanisms in Greece

Stavropoulos, Agathangelos (2024) Social trust, political trust and digital activism: unfolding the causal mechanisms in Greece. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis seeks to identify the ways in which social and political trust have an effect on digital activism. In doing so, it bridges four strands of research on social trust, political trust, political participation and connective action. This approach permits identifying several research gaps that are directly addressed through an empirical analysis of a crucial case study (Greece) with low levels of social and political trust. The analysis uses rich primary data collected through an original online survey and semi-structured interviews. The collected data is analyzed using a mixed methods design that combines multivariate statistical analysis and thematic analysis. The main findings illustrate that social and political trust influence differently the forms of digital activism. In general, social trust has a positive effect on all the forms of digital activism. The results are more nuanced with political trust: high levels enhance some forms of digital activism, while low levels augment the involvement in other forms of digital activism.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General); J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
• Supervisor's Name: Gherghina, Dr. Sergiu and Kollman, Professor Kelly
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84528
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2024 09:09
• Last Modified: 02 Sep 2024 09:10
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84528
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84528