Purpose: The role of reference groups has been considered by many researchers today. One of the components that has been affected by reference groups is social trust. The purpose of this study is a sociological study of the effect of reference groups on students' social trust.
Materials and Methods: The research method is quantitative and survey and the statistical population is all high school students in Tehran (7800 students), 366 of whom were selected using Cochran's formula and multi-stage cluster sampling method as a statistical sample. The data collection tool also includes a researcher-made questionnaire and the data were analyzed using SPSS software and descriptive and inferential statistics. According to the findings, the level of social trust of students is at a moderate level and the most important reference groups of students have been national artists and athletes and classmates.
Findings: The inferential findings also show that there is a significant relationship between reference groups and students' social trust and a total of 43% of the variance of social trust is predicted by reference groups.
Conclusion: Due to the increase in communication and facilitation of students' communication with all sections of society, it was found that today reference groups have the greatest impact on students