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This paper draws attention to a group of neighborhoods that are the object of heated elite discussions in many European countries. Using Sweden as our case, we demonstrate the feasibility of conducting high‐quality surveys with residents in neighborhoods where large shares have an immigrant background and low socioeconomic status. Moreover, we develop a measurement that allows us to assess what residents in two of Sweden's politicized and vulnerable neighborhoods think is needed to improve the social order of their local areas. We find that residents believe that neighborhood problems are generally about a lack of social control between people and that residents are not preoccupied with culture clash issues. Overall, beliefs about what contributes to social order are structured, largely homogenous and independent of elite discourse. Based on a comparison with a nationally representative sample, we conclude that residents in vulnerable neighborhoods and residents in other neighborhoods share a similar worldview and approach to daily life, but that the need for local social order is more keenly felt in the vulnerable neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A superordinate identity that emphasizes the shared bond between people of different groups can have beneficial outcomes according to the theoretical argument of the common ingroup identity model. Unlike previous research that focuses on a single superordinate identity, we simultaneously study two superordinate identities: local identity (identification with the neighborhood) and national identity (identification with the country of residence). Our study is set in two ethnically heterogenous and low‐income neighborhoods in Sweden. Based on four waves of panel survey data, we find that both types of superordinate identities are associated with increases in interpersonal and institutional trust. The identities have distinct consequences, however. Local identity is related to local trust and national identity to national trust. These results are based on within‐individual variation. Since high trust generally has a range of positive consequences, our results point to an approach at improving communities that are often in much need of it. We observe low correlation between the two superordinate identities and high convergent and discriminant validity of the concepts. Our results may be relevant to similar neighborhoods that exist across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugees arriving in Western countries spend long periods, often over a year, as asylum seekers. We examine how the period affects asylum seekers' institutional and interpersonal trust. Drawing on theories of need gratification, we suggest that several needs are unfulfilled during this period of existential limbo. Still, some aspects in the new society are positive, especially in Sweden, the host country of this study. To study these combined forces, we rely on repeated interviews with the same asylum seekers as well as other quantitative approaches. Results show that both types of trust are reduced over time, suggesting that the negative aspects take precedence. We also present results based on a matching analysis, which indicate that interpersonal trust at the beginning of the asylum-seeking process is higher compared to similar refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Overall, our results show that trust can be highly malleable in certain circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a panel study where one survey was conducted immediately after a terrorist attack in central Stockholm, with over 20,000 participants, we examine the possibility that first-hand experiences with terror increases effects compared to people located elsewhere in Sweden. We use matching and as-if random variation in our data to identify the effect of personal proximity. While we find that people close to the attack perceived themselves as more affected, attesting to the vividness of the experience, we find no evidence of stronger rally effects, greater outgroup dislike, preferences for security policies or emotional effects. The results challenge previous theories on public opinion change in the aftermath of vivid events. In line with prior research, however, the results indicate that public opinion among people across Sweden did change on a range of issues. These general effects occurred uniformly, regardless of geographic location in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]