Only 13% of Gen Z say that most people can be trusted, according to a report by a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, while 74% think “you can’t be too careful.”
“Gen Z will be the least trusting generation in modern American history,” wrote Ryan Burge, who is also a data analyst and professor of practice at the university, in the report.
Millennials were slightly more trusting than Gen Z at 24%, while 30% of Gen X and 29% of boomers agreed that most people can be trusted. The Silent Generation—those born before 1945—is by far the most trusting at 41%, according to data between 2021 and 2024 that Burge cited from the General Social Survey, a biennial sociological study conducted out of the University of Chicago.
This phenomenon certainly colors Gen Z’s personal relationships
This phenomenon certainly colors Gen Z’s personal relationships. But in the era of automated hiring processes, ghosting, forever layoffs and constant side hustles, it’s also reshaping the workplace as we know it.
Jaded, tired and anxious
Burge puts this trust gap down to a number of reasons in his analysis, including religion and education. But, as he explained to Fast Company, “[Gen Z’s] parents raised them to be extra cautious about everything,” he says.
“They’re just terrified of making a mistake, and I think that leads naturally to a lack of trust in other people.”
A sheltered upbringing that overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by cancel culture and social media scrutiny and cynicism, has led Gen Z to embrace loss aversion, which Burge explained as “the idea that losing feels worse than winning feels good.” And they’re more distrustful because of it.
