This study investigated the impact of ethnocultural diversity on changes in social cohesion in Västra Götaland County, Sweden, where the number of immigrants increased rapidly between 2014 and 2018. ...To investigate diversity, the authors used adiversity index weighted by cultural parameters in addition to the proportion of immigrants and the classical fragmentation index, while social cohesion was analysed using generalised and localised trust, respectively, with questionnaire surveys. The multilevel modelling used in the research has shown the role of individual variables and the impact of the diversity of the municipalities and city districts studied. The generalised trust was not affected by diversity in the multilevel models and correlation results, regardless of the measurement method (minority proportion, unweighted and weighted fragmentation index), but the individual variables provided a good indication of the level of trust of the individual. However,localised trust is already negatively affected by ethnic diversity, as residents in ethnically mixed municipalities or districts have lower localised trust, which confirms the constrict theory, that living in ethnically mixed areas leads to lower trust in general. There is no difference in model fit between the use of diversity indices and immigrant shares.
