From self-esteem to generalized trust and perceptions of political efficacy: Experimental evidence from Cambodia Sovathana Sokhom and Moana Vercoe University of Cambodia Loyola Marymount University IAFFE, Stanford University July 13, 2013

From experience to design This study was based on my own experiences as a Cambodian refugee In the 1990s I worked for Los Angeles county providing self-esteem and motivational training to refugee migrants and people on long-term assistance programs This training was associated with improved employment outcomes in terms of duration of employment and wages earned? Participants also reported increased sense of self- efficacy and civic engagement

The Cambodian application Least developed countries (LDCs) are classified by the UN according to low levels of economic and human development Cambodia is one of four LDCs in South East Asia Cambodia is experiencing political and economic transition Cambodia’s violent past has left a legacy of distrust among the population Cambodians do not feel secure in themselves and they don’t have confidence in their actions

The Cambodian application Studies from social psychology document the impact of trauma self-esteem in individuals World Governance Indicators show Cambodia’s poor performance across all measures, reflecting low political efficacy

Study Approach Zak and Knack (1998) show that high income countries have high levels of trust among citizens –Trust lowers transaction costs This trust supports informal institutions, shared norms and social capital formation so that citizens trust formal institutions –This is captured in the concept of political efficacy From psychology, if people feel secure and can trust their environment, they are motivated to invest their efforts –This is reflected in entrepreneurship that can be the engine for job creation and growth –Self-esteem, self efficacy and trust are mutually reinforcing –Self-esteem increases motivation

Key concepts Self efficacy: the belief that one has the power to produce an outcome by competing a given task. This is influenced by behavior, the environment and individual personal/cognitive factors belief in your actions Self esteem: the opinion on holds of one’s self belief in yourself Generalized interpersonal trust: trust in strangers that is not cultivated through interactions with people we know. It rests on optimism and a sense of control of your environment Political efficacy: faith in government and the belief that individual citizens have voice and can impact the government

Methodology Experimental study with two components: 1. Self-esteem and motivation training 2. A survey including demographic, self-esteem and political efficacy measures Participants were randomly assigned to control or treatment conditions - Experimental participants completed surveys after receiving training; Control participants completed surveys first Experimental Flow

Participants The Institutional Review Board from Claremont Graduate University approved the study protocol Participants were drawn from three government departments, two non-profit non-governmental organizations and two higher education institutions Using this subject pool allowed us to study the variables of interest among the merging middle class The survey instruments required participants to have relatively high literacy levels

Participants Approximately half of each group was assigned to the treatment condition 51% of participants were women The difference in average age (16 years) between the college students and other participant groups was significant and represents a generational difference

Participants by gender GroupsSubsamples% Women AllTotal (n=272)51.53 Government Departments All Government (n=103) Council of Ministers (n=35) Ministry of Women’s Affairs (n=36) Senate (n=32) NGOs All NGO (n=52) DC-CAM (n=31) Human Rights (n=21) University All Higher Education (n=117) Teacher Training Center (n=65) University of Cambodia (n=52)

Participants by age

Results: Self Esteem GroupsSubsamplesControlTreatmentp-values AllTotal ** Government Departments All Civil Servants Council of Ministers Ministry of Women’s Affairs Senate ** NGOs All NGO staff DC-CAM Human Rights UniversityAll University Students Teacher Training Center University of Cambodia <0.001**

Results: Self Efficacy GroupsSubsamplesControlTreatmentp-values AllTotal <0.001** Government Departments All Civil Servants Council of Ministers Ministry of Women’s Affairs Senate <0.001** 0.041* ** NGOs All NGO staff DC-CAM Human Rights UniversityAll University Students Teacher Training Center University of Cambodia <0.001**

Esteem, Efficacy & Gender Control results suggest Cambodian women have lower self-esteem than Cambodian men After training, women exhibited significantly higher self- esteem Training was associated with increased self-efficacy in men, but not women

Results: Political Efficacy

Training was associated with significant differences in political efficacy among participants not working or expecting to work for the government

Conclusions and extensions This was a pilot study to assess the immediate impact of self-esteem and motivational training in Cambodia Preliminary results suggest a gender difference in program impact The impact on political efficacy was moderated by government employment Trust measures included did not reflect program impact, but future studies will include better survey instruments and the Trust Game as a behavioral measure We plan to examine the long-term impact of the training on college students