Social Trust

Social trust is "a belief in the honesty, integrity, and reliability of others" (Pew). Your personal level of social trust can impact the way you interact with others in small ways and large ways. Do you trust that when you purchase a product, it will arrive intact and as advertised? If you're driving, do you hit the gas as soon as a light turns green, trusting that the drivers on the other side of the light will stop as soon as their light turns red? These are just two small examples of issues that require social trust.

Social trust is low among people in many communities today. There are several reasons that we are a less trusting society today than in the past. As income inequality widens, people may see fewer opportunities to get ahead and more ways in which their time and energy is being taken from them, lost to the tide of rising prices, hidden fees, and 2nd and 3rd jobs. This impacts personal interactions with groups of people. Why trust a company's product, a town council's intentions, or a hospital's policies if you're likely getting ripped off?

Politicians and political groups are also less trusted than in decades past. Politicians often make big promises about the economy, health care, and other costs, but when they don't deliver, their supporters' social trust decreases further. Internet scams and data theft are another major culprit. Even for the tech-savvy, identifying email, text, and phone scams can take up a notable part of your daily routine. Add to that the rise of AI deepfakes, and it's quite rational to distrust the ring of a notification or call.

If you find yourself surrounded by scams, you may feel a loss of "agency," or feeling like you can't trust others, participate in social settings and places of business, or make changes to create the life that you want via your own efforts. People whose sense of social trust has eroded over time may suspect they are being threatened or held back by powerful, unseen forces. They are partly right. There are more scams, fabrications, and lies floating around in the internet era than were common before. Unfortunately, subscribing to large-scale conspiracies does not offer believers real steps towards reclaiming agency or getting ahead.

The American dream is the concept that with hard work and sacrifice, anyone can get ahead. When people have low social trust, they feel understandably frustrated. People who subscribe to conspiracies, especially overarching conspiracies like The Illuminati or Q'Anon think they've figured out the source of their frustration. Unfortunately, they took a wrong turn. Belief that shadowy people and groups like Q or The Illuminati pull the strings only further removes those who subscribe to such theories from reclaiming agency, a sense that they can improve their lives. Conspiracists accidentally replace efforts to improve their lives with wild goose-chases for "the truth."

The articles linked in this section focus on:

• Defining Social Trust (Vallier)

• Analyzing Surveys on Social Trust in the U.S. (Silver)

• Analyzing Surveys on Social Trust Around the Word (Connaughton)

• Social Trust as a Factor in Political Conspiracies (Klepper)

• Discussing Social Trust as a Quality of Life Issue (Tahmaseb-McConatha)

Sources:

1. Connaughton, Aidan, "Social Trust in Advanced Economies is Lower Among Young People and Those With Less Education" 3 Dec. 2020

2. Klepper, David, "Takeaways from the AP's Look at the Role of Conspiracies in American Politics and Society" 31 Jan. 2024

3. Silver, Laura, et. al "Americans' Trust in One Another" 8 May 2025

4. Tahmaseb-McConatha, Jasmin, "The Power of Social Trust in Shaping Later Life Well-Being" 21 Apr. 2025

5. Kevin Vallier, "Defining Social Trust is a First Step Toward Nurturing It" 11 Feb. 2023

This page was written and edited by Jay Trucker

August 2026