Well-Being and the Pandemic: Trust in People Matters More Than Trust in Institutions

Trust is an important correlate of well-being, and it plays an important moderating role against adversity. But does this conclusion also hold during pandemics? We address this question by investigating the role of interpersonal and institutional trust for well-being, as measured by five proxies, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. We also examined age and gender differences in the relationship between trust and well-being, and tested the protective role of trust among individuals whose well-being might be at risk during the pandemic. The sample included a total of 5776 Serbian adults (M-age = 37.00 years, 75% female). The results showed that interpersonal trust has a small but significant relationship with well-being, whereas institutional trust has negligible effects. We also found some evidence for the protective role of general interpersonal trust on well-being among individuals with poorer self-rated health and in a poorer financial situation. Our findings confirm the role of interpersonal trust for well-being in times of crisis, and support previous evidence indicating that promoting interpersonal trust should be a core goal of public policy.