You’d be hard pressed to find two Western cities that are more different than Houston and Copenhagen.

The former has a reputation for being a business-focused place where everything is big. Buoyed by an economy that has thrived in recent years as the oil industry boomed, residents drive in big cars on big roads to big houses in one of the country’s biggest cities.

The latter has a reputation for being “happy,” with residents who consider it a safe, clean and pleasant place.

Kinder Institute fellow Michael Emerson and Rice University doctoral student Kevin Smiley describe the two styles as the “market” and “people” approaches to city life. Houston and Copenhagen represent opposite ends of that spectrum. But what accounts for the difference?

It may have something to do with the concept of “trust.”

Today, the Kinder Institute releases its second annual Copenhagen Area Survey, which polls residents of the city about their political and social beliefs. The survey of more than 1,000 Copenhageners was conducted in spring 2015. It complements the Kinder Houston Area Survey, the Kinder Institute’s signature product, now entering its 35th year.

The two surveys ask residents of both cities many of the same questions. But it found that the most fundamental difference between residents of Houston and Copenhagen appears to be their basic view of whether people can be trusted.

About 84 percent of Copenhagen residents believe people can be trusted, compared to 35.6 percent of Houston residents. At the same time, 16 percent of Copenhagen residents say you “can’t be too careful” about others, compared to 64.4 percent of Houstonians.