A large literature has suggested that education leads to higher trust. In this article, I argue that how education and trust are associated at the individual level may depend on the level of risk and uncertainty of each institutional setting. Trust involves not only individuals’ risk-taking propensity and capability but also their perception of how uncertain or risky the situation they are in. I test this micro–macro interactive approach by analyzing data from the World Values Survey, the European Social Survey, and the World Bank. Results show that the education and trust association can change from positive to negative both cross-nationally and within national contexts over time in response to the social and political stability at the macro level. In stable and low-conflict societies, the association between education and trust is highly positive. However, the association becomes negative in transitional societies where social and political risks are widespread. Supporting the risk-taking and risk awareness mechanisms underpinning the interactive process, I show that education has varying impacts on risk-taking propensity and risk awareness across different institutional contexts.

大量文献表明，教育可以提高信任度。在本文中，我认为教育和信任在个人层面上的关联方式可能取决于每个机构设置的风险和不确定性程度。信任不仅涉及个人的冒险倾向和能力，还涉及他们对自己所处境地不确定性或风险的看法。我通过分析《世界价值调查》，《欧洲社会调查》和《世界银行。结果表明，随着宏观层面的社会和政治稳定，教育和信任协会可以随着时间的推移从跨国范围和国家范围内从积极变为消极。在稳定和低冲突的社会中，教育与信任之间的联系是高度积极的。但是，该协会在社会和政治风险普遍存在的过渡社会中变得消极。支持交互过程基础的冒险和风险意识机制，我证明了教育在不同机构环境下对冒险倾向和风险意识的影响各不相同。