Defining Community Trust at TEDx

Back in November 2011, I had the opportunity to present on the topic of community trust at TEDxSFU. Community is an abstract concept, and as an audience member I found it interesting to observe the way in which different speakers attempted to define it. 

The Definition of Community 

During the event, some speakers expressed a more traditional perspective on community; while others described community from a more progressive perspective. Some focused on the importance of control and structure in community; while others emphasized individuality and freedom. Below are a few quotes to help illustrate how different some of the community perspectives were: 

"Governments at all levels are now legislating consultation and need more accurate tools to validate their decision making... We've had some online consultation thus far, but it's met with varying degrees of success... because consultation has been largely anonymous and does not stand up to scrutiny." - Speaker 1 (Structure Oriented) 

"Social media is revolutionary in velocity and scale. It's being used as a tool for revolutions and the effect it's going to have on Government is going to be massive... Like we've seen in Egypt, in London and in Occupy, geeks are resourceful and they'll find ways to get information out." - Speaker 2 (Individuality Oriented) 

In my opinion, community isn't defined by any one of these perspectives - community is defined by all of them. Like any human concept, community is full of paradoxes and contradictions. Only by embracing these contradictions can you begin to understand what truly creates a community. 

The Topic of Community Trust 

For those of you that are interested, below is a video from my presentation at TEDxSFU. Like all research we conduct, it attempts to unify and explain contradictions in human motivation. In this case, it looks at the topic of community trust among leaders and public institutions.

The Community Trust Report

Over the last month, I’ve been involved in a study that explored the topic of community trust in public institutions and political leaders. The study involved online surveys with 1500 people from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and used the HuTrust model to measure the psychological drivers of trust. Last week, The Community Trust Report was shared for the first time at TEDxSFU.

Figure 1: When people trust their community, 80% will report a crime 

The Benefits of Community Trust

Trust is at the core of a community. Many of the social actions and interactions that embody the idea of ‘community’ are predicated on the need for trust. In fact, our research showed that when people trust their community, 80% will ‘help their neighbors,’ 80% will ‘report a crime to authorities,’ 73% will ‘vote in elections,’ and 54% will ‘volunteer more of their time.’ 

Political Trust in Montreal

From a political point-of-view, our research had some interesting findings on trust in Canadian politics. On average, only 19% of people surveyed in Montreal said they trusted Prime Minister Stephen Harper, versus 44% in Toronto and 46% in Vancouver. 

Among those surveyed in Montreal, the psychological driver that most reduced trust in Stephen Harper was found to be Vision; meaning that people ‘felt his values were less appealing.' In contrast, among those surveyed in Toronto and Vancouver the psychological driver that most increased trust in Stephen Harper was found to be Stability; meaning that people ‘felt he had a strong foundation.’ 

Police Trust in Vancouver

From a social point-of-view, our research has some interesting findings on trust in Police. On average, only 65% of people surveyed in Vancouver said they trusted the Vancouver Police Department, versus 78% in Toronto who trusted the Toronto Police Service, and 80% in Montreal who trusted the Montreal Police Service. 

Figure 2: The VPD are significantly less trusted than the TPS

Among those surveyed in Vancouver, the psychological drivers that most reduced trust in the Vancouver Police Department were Relationship and Competence; meaning that people ‘felt they were less great to deal with,’ and ‘felt they were less able to deliver what they promise.’

Community Trust at TEDxSFU

The theme for TEDxSFU was community engagement, and it attracted speakers including Jim Chu (Chief, Vancouver Police), John Furlong (CEO, Vancouver 2010 Olympics) and Ryan Holmes (CEO, Hootsuite). Below is a copy of the presentation I made at the event, which includes some of the findings from The Community Trust Report.

The Community Trust Report from Concerto Marketing Group