I admit I was skeptical about the universality of such a result right away, but I didn't look for an opposing view specifically when digging around. In fact, I

I admit I was skeptical about the universality of such a result right away, but I didn't look for an opposing view specifically when digging around. In fact, I was actually trying to find the complete text somewhere. So instead I found this, and now just to provide another view: "Does ethnic diversity erode trust?: Putnam’s ‘hunkering-down’ thesis reconsidered" From the conclusion (page 40): > Our findings and conclusions contradict the view that the increasing ethnic heterogeneity > of community life in the 21st Century represents a worrying and corrosive influence on > trust between citizens. An important limitation to this generalization is that our > conclusions relate to Britain in the mid-2000s. Failure to corroborate the pattern of > results that has been observed in the United States does not negate those findings but > does, we contend, pose a strong challenge to claims of their universalistic nature In any case I don't think that (when you find problems correlating with diversity) diversity is a cause, but that there are confounding forces at work. Just my believe though. [0] http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/15382/2/Sturgis(2011)%20Does%20ethnic%20diversity%20erode%20trust.pdf http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/15382/2/Sturgis(2011)%20Does%20eth...