Humans are social beings. This means, that humans’ quality of life is largely decided by the quality of their societies.
Trust is one key factor that helps shape societies – specifically, if individuals feel a basic level of trust towards their social circle, outside of their immediate friends and family, they are happier.
People lead better, happier and more satisfying lives when they share high levels of trust with people in their communities.
Finland is the happiest country in the world, for the fifth year in a row, based on the latest annual United Nations World Happiness Report, released in April 2022. The report uses data from Gallup world polls and measures the way people feel about their lives. It is not coincidental that Finland also has one of the world’s highest levels of trust among people, known as interpersonal trust.
In a high-trust environment, people live their lives with the reassurance that others around them are generally honest and even benevolent. These sorts of strong human connections have been shown to promote happiness.
By comparison, in low-trusting environments, people get suspicious. They feel they must always be on their guard, in case other people attempt to deceive or take advantage of them.
It takes no great insight to understand why high-trust societies tend to be happier in comparison to those where trust is low. People find it easier to build or strengthen connections to others when they have learned how to trust.
https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/
http://ccare.stanford.edu/press_posts/good-social-relationships-are-the-most-consistent-predictor-of-a-happy-life/#:%7E:text=Heaps%20of%20research%20suggest%20that,feel%20happiness%2C%20contentment%20and%20calm.