Measuring the relationship between social capital components and political trust among West Azerbaijan citizens

The purpose of the present study was to measure the relationship between the social capital components and political trust of West Azerbaijan citizens through a survey method among all citizens over the age of 18 in West Azerbaijan province (2,284,359 cases). The sample size was determined to be 384 through the random sampling method using a questionnaire. The findings of Cronbach's alpha validity coefficient showed that all items of the variables had the necessary and desirable reliability. The results of Pearson's coefficient test indicated a significant correlation between all variables. Based on the multiple regression test, political trust in West Azerbaijan province depends on an increase in political participation (16%), an increase in forgiveness and volunteer spirit (18%), an increase in religious participation (15%), and an increase in justice in civil participation (35%). Therefore, increasing the level of social capital among the citizens will enhance their political trust resulting in the expansion of people’s civil and social participation.
Keywords: Social capital, political participation, civil partnership, political trust, West Azerbaijan province.

Introduction and statement of the problem

The most important symbol of political participation is the conscious participation of citizens in elections, and the more these participations are. The level of political and social legitimacy of the system increases. Therefore, it can be claimed that the highest form of crystallization of democracy in society is through their participation in elections. The results related to the participation of the people of West Azerbaijan Province in the elections between the ninth, tenth and eleventh periods of the Islamic Council show a significant decrease. One of the important components of increasing political participation is paying attention to public trust and social capital. When the level of public trust is high, civic participation also increases. Also, the greater the participation in the elections, the greater the political stability. It seems that the issue of social capital has a special effect on the level of political trust of the citizens of West Azerbaijan and affects their level of civic participation. At the end of this question, what is the relationship between the social capital components of West Azerbaijan citizens and their political trust? According to the research question, the following goals have been considered: - Identifying the relationship between the components of social capital and political trust.

Research methodology

This article was conducted with a survey method among 2,284,359 citizens over 18 years of age in West Azarbaijan province as a statistical population, and using Cochran's formula, 384 people were selected as the sample size. The tool of data collection was the technique of documentary studies and written interview (questionnaire). 11 items to measure political trust (as a dependent variable). To measure independent research variables including: 1. social trust variable, 7 items; 2. Political participation variable, number of 6 items; 3. Participation and civic leadership variable, 6 items; 4. Informal social relations variable, 7 items; 5. The variable of forgiveness and the spirit of volunteering, the number of 6 items; 6. Religious participation variable, number of 6 items; 7. The variable of justice in civil participation, number of 6 items; 8. The variable of socializing and friendship diversity was designed using 6 items and measured and evaluated using a five-point Likert scale. SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data.

Research findings
According to the output of the descriptive statistics of the research data for 384 respondents, it can be said: the highest distribution of contextual variables related to gender is related to the "male" option (%53.9). The lowest distribution corresponds to the "female" option (%46.1). The highest distribution of contextual variables related to education is related to the "Bachelor's" option (%26.3) and the lowest distribution is related to the " Subdiploma " option (%9.9).
Reliability analysis of the items related to the main research variables in this research, based on Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient which is more than 70%, it can be said that all the items related to each of the main research variables have the necessary and desirable reliability in using the items, The target in the research questionnaire has. Has J. Inferential statistics (hypotheses) of the research variables, the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient test showed: Considering the significance level obtained for all the independent research variables, which is equal to (0.000), it can be concluded that all the components related to the independent variable have an effect on political trust and all the independent variables have a significant relationship with the dependent variable. Therefore, the hypotheses are accepted. The research hypothesis can be tested using multiple regression analysis. Collinearity test was used to measure the goodness of the regression model of the effective factors (V/X) on the dependent variable (Y). The multivariable hypothesis (for the purpose of multiple regression analysis) is as follows: It seems that political trust (dependent variable) in West Azerbaijan province can depend on (main research variables): 1. Social trust. 2. Political participation; 3. Civil partnership; 4. Informal social links; 5. Forgiveness and the spirit of volunteering; 6. Religious participation; 7. Justice in civil participation and 8. Diversity of associations and friendships. According to the results of the multivariable hypothesis test, the research model is drawn as follows: Figure 1: Experimental research model (within the framework of the multivariable research hypothesis).

(within the framework of the multivariate research hypothesis).




 (β=.158)
Political Participation








Political Trust








(β=.181)
Forgiveness and the spirit of volunteering








(β=.148)
Religious Participation








(β=.349)
Justice in Civil Partnership





Discussion and conclusion

In this article, citing the statistical findings and based on the explanatory theories of the main research variables, i.e. the theory of Putnam, Coleman, Bordo, Fukuyama and other thinkers It was observed that the results of this article are consistent with the opinions of the mentioned researchers. Therefore, it can be said that with the increase of social capital among the citizens of West Azarbaijan province, the level of their political trust will also increase and, in parallel, the level of civic and social participation will also increase. According to the findings and results of the research, the following suggestions are presented: - Investigate the issue of social trust and its role in increasing political trust. -Investigating the issue of informal social links that play a vital and constructive role in increasing the political trust of citizens. -Considering that one of the important results of political trust is the high civil and social participation of citizens, this matter has been given serious attention and studies should be done regarding the increase of this participation. -The greater the political and social trust of the citizens, the more forgiveness and voluntary spirit they will have. Therefore, it is suggested to measure the component of forgiveness and the spirit of volunteering and suggest ways to improve it. -There is a significant relationship between religious participation and the level of political trust, and therefore, in-depth investigations are necessary to investigate the roots of this increase in participation.