Patterns of trust and subjective well-being across societies: the role of long-term versus short-term orientation

Existing literature remains limited regarding the various associations between social trust and subjective well-being across different time-based cultural norms. To address this gap, this study examines the moderating role of societal long-term versus short-term orientation in the individual -level relationships between individuals’ subjective well-being and interpersonal trust (i.e. particularized and generalized trust). Multilevel models are conducted using a sample of 120,682 individuals across 80 societies, based on the joint European Values Study and World Values Survey dataset. The results indicate that both types of interpersonal trust show positive correlations with subjective well-being across societies. In societies with more long-term orientation, both forms of interpersonal trust exhibit a stronger and positive correlation with subjective well-being. In contrast, in short-term orientation societies, both forms of interpersonal trust show a weaker yet still positive correlation with well-being. These findings underscore the importance of societal time orientations in shaping the relationship between interpersonal trust and well-being.