What and who do we trust? Political views and individual autonomy in Argentina today

Abstract

This article analyzes institutional trust levels and the agreement on statements about religion, sexuality and the role of the State in nowadays Argentine. It takes into account socio-demographic variables –sex, age, education and region- and with positions on abortion and drugs-, in order to look into imaginaries and ideological tensions. With this aim it uses data from Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs and Attitudes in Argentina. Results show that young people with a higher educational level trust less in all institutions, while older and less-educated people trust more. Besides, those who oppose abortion and drugs legalization have higher trust levels in general and specifically in institutions related with order and security. For their part, those in favor trust less and have more confidence in institutions related to politics. Finally, opinions on religion and sexuality make more reasonable to talk about ideological tensions rather than closed profiles.