Becoming the perceived outsider? Building social trust as a newly arrived immigrant in Malmö

Abstract: Sweden was always considered a high trust country, yet recent extreme right movements and increased xenophobia have complicated the picture of a stable social cohesion. The problem with such phenomena is that it focuses on the fear of the “other”, as observed by a perceived societal in-group. The purpose of this thesis is, on the contrary, to examine the feelings of one perceived out-group. In reference to the research aim ten semi-structured interviews with newly arrived persons to Malmö have been conducted, examining the dynamics of trust in people who have gone from a low to a high trust environment. The theoretical framework and literature on social trust and ethnic diversity claims that high social trust is strongly connected to the occurrence of bridging social networks. The stories collected from a narrative analysis of the interviews confirm that to be able to adapt to higher trust levels it is essential to learn the new language as well as having a job or going to school in order to make new social contacts.