Trusting Others During a Pandemic: Investigating Potential Changes in Generalized Trust and Its Relationship With Pandemic-Related Experiences and Worry

Generalized trust, the belief that most other people can be trusted, has positive consequences for health and wellbeing. An increased sense of community is often seen in times of crisis or disaster, but it is unclear whether this is the case in the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of the current study were to assess whether generalized trust increased in an early pandemic phase compared to pre-pandemic levels, and whether trust was lower in individuals who felt particularly threatened or burdened in the pandemic. We compared levels of generalized trust in a population-representative Norwegian sample (AD - Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway. Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Department of Psychology, Bjørknes University College, Oslo, Norway. Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway, Oslo, Norway.

Extra: Edition: 20210826