IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10238.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Legacies of Conflict : Experiences, Self-efficacy and the Formation of Conditional Trust

Author

Listed:
  • Buehren,Niklas
  • Goldstein,Markus P.
  • Rasul,Imran
  • Smurra,Andrea

Abstract

An established literature finds that those exposed to conflict are more pro-social later in life.This paper builds on this work in two directions using a sample of 4,200 women born during the Sierra Leonean civilwar and surveyed 14 years later. First, the paper introduces the notion of conditional trust, whereby individuals neitheroutright distrust nor outright trust others, but can use their perceived self-efficacy to raise the cooperativenessof others. This takes ideas from the psychology literature documenting survivors of trauma can go through a process ofposttraumatic growth generating perceived self-efficacy. The paper develops a framework to make precise how conditionaltrust depends on beliefs over others, gains from cooperation, risk aversion, and the key mediating role ofself-efficacy in linking conflict and trust. Second, the paper constructs a granular typology of experiences ofconflict combining information on a geo-coded measure of exposure to conflict, self-reported memories/recall ofvictimization, and ages of exposure to conflict. This distinguishes individuals who are traumatized, those withdirect first-hand accounts of conflict, and those with second-hand narratives. Empirically, the analysis shows thatexposure to conflict—either by being in the vicinity of conflict or through specific experiences of conflict—leadsrespondents to be significantly more likely to conditionally trust others. The findings show that perceived self-efficacyis higher among those exposed to conflict and this mediates the impact of conflict on trust preferences. By consideringthe role of memories, narratives/socialization in shaping experiences of conflict, generating self-efficacy and thusdriving trust preferences, the paper provides new avenues for research on how psychological legacies of trauma earlyin life shape the long run formation of economic preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Buehren,Niklas & Goldstein,Markus P. & Rasul,Imran & Smurra,Andrea, 2022. "Legacies of Conflict : Experiences, Self-efficacy and the Formation of Conditional Trust," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10238, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10238
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099128011282217349/pdf/IDU06b9acd7303c150420a0bd430e468d35196f6.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    2. Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Thomas Deckers, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status and Inequalities in Children’s IQ and Economic Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(9), pages 2504-2545.
    3. Pamela Jakiela & Owen Ozier, 2019. "The Impact of Violence on Individual Risk Preferences: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(3), pages 547-559, July.
    4. Moya, Andrés, 2018. "Violence, psychological trauma, and risk attitudes: Evidence from victims of violence in Colombia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 15-27.
    5. Christoph Vanberg, 2008. "Why Do People Keep Their Promises? An Experimental Test of Two Explanations -super-1," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(6), pages 1467-1480, November.
    6. Ulrike Malmendier, 2021. "FBBVA Lecture 2020: Exposure, Experience, and Expertise: Why Personal Histories Matter in Economics [Macroeconomic Experiences and Risk Taking of Euro Area Households]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(6), pages 2857-2894.
    7. James J. Heckman, 2007. "The Economics, Technology and Neuroscience of Human Capability Formation," NBER Working Papers 13195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Ulrike Malmendier, 2021. "Exposure, Experience, and Expertise: Why Personal Histories Matter in Economics," NBER Working Papers 29336, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Callen, Michael, 2015. "Catastrophes and time preference: Evidence from the Indian Ocean Earthquake," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 199-214.
    10. Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "A Memory-Based Model of Bounded Rationality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(3), pages 735-774.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muhammad Nasir & Marc Rockmore & Chih Ming Tan, 2015. "It's No Spring Break in Cancun: The Effects of Exposure to Violence on Risk Preferences, Pro-Social Behavior, and Mental Health," Working Paper series 15-40, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    2. Dräger, Lena & Gründler, Klaus & Potrafke, Niklas, 2025. "Political shocks and inflation expectations: Evidence from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Fabian Kosse & Thomas Deckers & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Armin Falk, 2020. "The Formation of Prosociality: Causal Evidence on the Role of Social Environment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(2), pages 434-467.
    4. Marie Claire Villeval, 2019. "Comportements (non) éthiques et stratégies morales," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 70(6), pages 1021-1046.
    5. Pak, Tae-Young, 2023. "Relative deprivation and financial risk taking✰," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    6. Zakaria Babutsidze & Nobuyuki Hanaki & Adam Zylbersztejn, 2021. "Nonverbal content and trust: An experiment on digital communication," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(4), pages 1517-1532, October.
    7. Lena Detlefsen & Andreas Friedl & Katharina Lima de Miranda & Ulrich Schmidt & Matthias Sutter, 2018. "Are economic preferences shaped by the family context? The impact of birth order and siblings’ sex composition on economic preferences," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2018_12, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    8. Sabine Liebenehm & Ingmar Schumacher & Eric Strobl, 2024. "Rainfall shocks and risk aversion: Evidence from Southeast Asia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(1), pages 145-176, January.
    9. Haile, Kaleab K. & Nillesen, Eleonora & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Impact of formal climate risk transfer mechanisms on risk-aversion: Empirical evidence from rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    10. Lena Detlefsen & Andreas Friedl & Katharina Lima Miranda & Ulrich Schmidt & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "Are economic preferences shaped by the family context? The relation of birth order and siblings’ gender composition to economic preferences," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 1-31, August.
    11. Bloem,Jeffrey Richard & Damon,Amy & Francis,David C. & Mitchell,Harrison, 2023. "Herder-Related Violence, Agricultural Work, and the Informal Sector as a Safety Net," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10607, The World Bank.
    12. Arzu Kibris & Lena Gerling, 2022. "Armed conflict exposure and trust: Evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey," HiCN Working Papers 363, Households in Conflict Network.
    13. Yuzuka KASHIWAGI & Yasuyuki TODO, 2021. "How Do Disasters Change Inter-Group Perceptions? Evidence from the 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake," Discussion papers 21082, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Francesco Bogliacino & Laura Jiménez & Gianluca Grimalda, 2015. "Consultative, Democracy and Trust," Documentos de Trabajo, Escuela de Economía 12696, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID.
    15. Francesco Bogliacino & Cristiano Codagnone & Frans Folkvord & Francisco Lupiáñez-Villanueva, 2023. "The impact of labour market shocks on mental health: evidence from the Covid-19 first wave," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(3), pages 899-930, October.
    16. Eickmeier, Sandra & Petersen, Luba, 2024. "Toward a holistic approach to central bank trust," Discussion Papers 27/2024, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    17. Xu, Hui & Zhang, Zheyuan & Zhao, Zhong, 2023. "Parental socioeconomic status and children’s cognitive ability in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    18. Preuss, Malte, 2021. "Intra-individual stability of two survey measures on forward-looking attitude," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 201-227.
    19. Ryan Brown & Verónica Montalva & Duncan Thomas & Andrea Velásquez, 2019. "Impact of Violent Crime on Risk Aversion: Evidence from the Mexican Drug War," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 892-904, December.
    20. Gavresi, Despina & Litina, Anastasia, 2023. "Past exposure to macroeconomic shocks and populist attitudes in Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 989-1010.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10238. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.