COVID-19 infection induces higher trust in strangers

Diego Gambetta and Davide Morisi
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Diego Gambetta: a Collegio Carlo Alberto, 10122 Turin, Italy
Davide Morisi: a Collegio Carlo Alberto, 10122 Turin, Italy

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 32, e2116818119

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic went global in a few months, caused millions of deaths, and is destroying the livelihood of countless people. This paper tries to discover whether the pandemic is destroying our social fabric too. Most research has found that natural catastrophes result in an increase of trust and cooperativeness. But what about a catastrophe whose diffusion occurs by contact with other people? Contemporaneous accounts of previous pestilences describe them as damaging social relations. Yet, surprisingly, among the general population in Italy, interpersonal trust increased relative to prepandemic levels, and those who caught COVID-19 increased their trust in strangers. This effect seems ephemeral, however, as it declines as people become free of the infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; trust; natural threats (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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