The Role of Digital Skills in the Formation of Generalized Trust Among Latinos and African Americans in the United States

Abstract

A number of scholars have noted a digital skill divide among racial and ethnic groups in the United States (e.g. Hargittai, 2002). The ability to leverage information communication technologies (ICTs) in productive ways has been linked to greater levels of prodemocratic attitudes and behaviors (Horrigan, Wellman, & Rainie, 2006; Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009; Vitak et al., 2011 ). However, no work to date has explored how this relationship between digital skills and political behavior is mediated by racial and ethnic identity. Using an ordered logistic regression to analyze a 2010 PEW data set of social media use, we test the proposition that proficiency in digital skills enhances generalized trust among Latinos and African Americans. We find that the acquisition of digital skills is associated with generalized trust for African Americans but not for Latinos or Anglo-Americans. Our work suggests that ICTs in general and digital skills in particular might provide a distinct pathway to enhance generalized trust for African Americans, a key precondition for civic engagement for historically marginalized groups in the U.S. society. We discuss the implications of this research for enhancing generalized trust among historically marginalized groups in the United States.

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