Alex Bass · Mormon Metrics (Substack)

Using General Social Survey (GSS) data spanning roughly six decades, this analysis compares social and institutional trust among Latter-day Saints to the broader U.S. population. LDS members have maintained stable social trust around 50% while most other groups experienced steep declines. The piece finds that LDS confidence in religious leaders is exceptionally high and that social trust and religious trust are positively correlated among LDS respondents in a way not seen for trust in secular institutions.
GSS sample sizes for LDS respondents are small in any given year; the author combines 2010s and 2020s data due to reduced n and GSS discontinuation of the Mormon variable in the latest survey wave. Findings are descriptive/correlational. Mormon Metrics is an independent Substack, not a peer-reviewed outlet.
Source: https://mormonmetrics.com/p/the-trust-fortress-how-latter-day
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Bass, A. (2026). The Trust Fortress: How Latter-day Saints Resist a 60-Year National Decline. Mormon Metrics (Substack). https://mormonmetrics.com/p/the-trust-fortress-how-latter-day
Alex Bass. "The Trust Fortress: How Latter-day Saints Resist a 60-Year National Decline." Mormon Metrics (Substack), 2026. https://mormonmetrics.com/p/the-trust-fortress-how-latter-day.
@article{trust_fortress_lds_resist_60_year_decline,
title = {The Trust Fortress: How Latter-day Saints Resist a 60-Year National Decline},
author = {Alex Bass},
year = {2026},
journal = {Mormon Metrics (Substack)},
url = {https://mormonmetrics.com/p/the-trust-fortress-how-latter-day},
}Report an error on this study.