Highest trust leads to greater happiness and satisfaction of life

People with higher levels of confidence in both others and institutions-refer to higher levels of subjective prosperity, an important indicator of quality of life and prediction of health and longevity than those with lower levels of confidence, according to a study published by the American Psychological Union. The study also found that prosperity and trust enhance each other over time.

“Our findings show that confidence plays a key role in how happy and satisfied people feel at all ages, especially for children, adolescents and older adults. Newsletter.

Subjective prosperity is different from other types of prosperity, as it focuses on the way people feel about their lives and not external factors such as physical health, wealth or education and is generally measured by self -report.

To better understand the relationship between trust and prosperity, the researchers conducted a meta-analysis of existing research, including about 1,000 findings from studies involving more than 2.5 million participants aged 6 to 84 years from around the world. The most commonly studied countries were the United States (43 studies), China (37) and the United Kingdom (19). The research examined three types of trust at the individual level (interpersonal, institutional and generalized), as well as various prosperity indicators.

The prosperity in our study includes both emotional experiences, as well as how often one feels happy or sad, or whether they report anxiety or depressive symptoms and more reflective judgments, as they feel satisfied with their lives as a whole.

Marlies Maes, PhD, co-author, Assistant Professor, Utrecht University

The team of researchers found that people who trust the most, whether it is confidence in others, in institutions or in society in general, tend to feel happier and more satisfied with life than people who trust less.

Trust is the glue that keeps relationships, communities and societies together. Research shows that supportive, healthy relationships are the key to prosperity and trust plays a central role in building and maintaining these connections. This can help explain why people who trust others and institutions tend to report higher levels of prosperity, according to Finkener.

Many of the studies analyzed were longitudinal, allowing researchers to monitor changes over time. These revealed a clear pattern: confidence has reinforced prosperity and people who felt better about their lives also tend to become more confidence over time.

“In today’s world, where the media can be linked and misleading, securing public confidence is more important than ever,” Finkenauer said. “By promoting media education and establishing just regulations, we take basic measures to protect this confidence.”

“But trust cannot be forced to win,” he said. “Families, schools and governments share the responsibility of creating environments where people can rely on each other. When we build trust, we also support mental health and strongest communities.”