This volume, edited by a political scientist and a practicing medical doctor, is organized into two parts: interpersonal and institutional trust. To gauge trust both interpersonal and institutional in 29 Asian societies, the AsiaBarometer survey, the best-and only-available such data source in the world was used. The survey, focusing on the quality of life in Asia, was carried out in the 2000s in 29 Asian societies (in East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia), and in the United States, Australia, and Russia for comparative analysis.

1. Introduction.- 2.Interpersonal Trust.- 2.1. Social Capital in Ten Asian Societies.- 2.2. Social Capital in East Asia: Comparative Political Culture in Confucian Societies.- 2.3. Quantifying Social Capital in Central and South Asia: Are There Democratic, Developmental, and Regionalizing Potentials?.- 2.4. Psychometric Approach to Social Capital: Using AsiaBarometer Survey Data in 29 Asian Societies.- 2.5. Interpersonal Mistrust and Unhappiness among Japanese People.- 2.6 Interpersonal Trust and Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study in Japan.- 2.7 Individual and Country-Level Effects of Social Trust on Happiness: The Asia Barometer Survey.- 3. Institutional Trust.- 3.1. Government Performance and Confidence in Political Institutions.- 3.2. Sociotropic and Pocketbook Politics in Japan.- 3.3. Influence of Income on Health Status and Healthcare Utilization in Working Adults: an Illustration of Health among the Working Poor in Japan.- 3.4 The relationship between trust in mass media and the healthcare system and individual health: evidence from the AsiaBarometer Survey.