Stress Changes Your Trust in Others, New Research Shows
Do you ever have a hard time trusting someone after a difficult time in your life? Or maybe a good friend failed you when you needed them most. Maybe you’ve had a bad breakup, money problems, or years of stressful situations. Things start to get better, but you may become more selective about who you let into your life.
Maybe there’s a reason. A new study, published in November 2026, suggests that lifetime stress the stressful experiences we accumulate over our lifetimes may affect the way we judge other people’s intentions. But the findings tell us something interesting. People who have been under more stress may be more inclined to be wary of strangers initially, but they aren’t necessarily worse at detecting who deserves their trust.
In some cases, they may even make a stronger distinction between people who cooperate and those who act selfishly.
Do People Actually Trust Less When Stressed?
Almost all of our relationships involve trust. We count on friends to keep our secrets, on partners to have our backs, and on colleagues to keep their word. But not everyone naturally trusts in the same way.
People who have generally had supportive and reliable relationships may feel comfortable giving others the benefit of the doubt. Another person might have been disappointed many times or might be in a tough situation and want to tread carefully. Researchers from the University of Vienna wondered if these differences had anything to do with stressful experiences over a person’s lifetime.
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 168 adults were asked about their experiences and then asked to make decisions about trusting other people. Researchers found that participants who reported more lifetime stress were more likely to start out with lower expectations of other people. They were less optimistic about equal treatment.
This did not mean, however, that they could not detect reliable behaviour. And that difference is a large part of the findings.
What Is Lifetime Stress?
The word “stress” often makes us think of things happening right now. It could be an upcoming deadline, a fight at home, or a bad day at work. But this study examined something broader: lifetime stress. That is, the stressful events and chronic problems that a person has experienced over many years.
Such experiences may include:
- Money worries or a long period of financial problems
- Critical illness or other health issues
- Job issues or unemployment
- Difficult relationships and family conflicts
- Bereavement
- Experiences involving personal danger or safety
Some stressful experiences happen once. Others last for months, even years. Researchers used a tool called the Stress and Adversity Inventory, or STRAIN, to get a sense of each participant’s history.
This made it possible for them to measure the stressful situations participants had experienced from childhood to adulthood and how severe those experiences were. The researchers examined a person’s entire history of adversity rather than how stressed they were on any given day.
How Researchers Measured Trust
To explore the possible connection between stress and trust, the researchers turned to an experiment known as the “trust game.” It was a simple idea. In each round, players received 10 credits. They could keep the credits or transfer some of them to another player.
Any credits they gave away were tripled. Then the other player got to decide how many credits to return. This created a situation where you could be rewarded for trusting someone, but there was also a risk.
Say you give another player 5 credits, for example. When transferred, those credits would become 15. If the other player returned 10, you would now have 15 credits, including the 5 you kept.
But if the other player only gave back 3, you would have 8 credits. Thus, the outcome depended on the other person’s goodwill. Surprise, surprise!
Participants believed they were interacting with real people remotely. In fact, the other players were controlled by computer programs. One partner was usually generous, while the other was more likely to keep more credits.
People had opportunities to learn over several rounds which partner was more reliable. The partners changed their behaviour after 34 rounds. The generous partner turned into a selfish one, and the selfish partner turned into a generous one.
This allowed researchers to look at more than just the level of trust people had in strangers. They could also see how participants reacted to a change in another person’s behaviour.
What the Study Taught Us About Stress and Trust
Researchers observed several patterns among participants who had experienced more stress in their lives.
1. They Were Less Trusting at First
Those with more stress in their histories had lower expectations of strangers before they had enough information about their behaviour. They were more concerned about the possibility of unfair treatment. This doesn’t mean that everyone who has experienced a difficult time becomes cynical. The study found a pattern among the participants, not a rule that applies to everyone.
2. They Expected More Uncertainty
The researchers found that people who had experienced more stress in their lives were also less certain about other people’s intentions. They seemed more willing to accept that an interaction might not turn out well. This kind of caution can be helpful when trying to make a new friend, start a relationship, or determine whether another person can be trusted.
But the experiment did not directly examine these everyday situations.
3. They May Still Recognize Who Is Trustworthy
One of the most interesting outcomes was this: More lifetime stress was linked to lower initial trust, but not to a poorer ability to distinguish between generous and selfish partners. In fact, participants with more lifetime stress drew a sharper distinction between the two.
Participants with lower stress exposure invested fewer credits in the selfish partner. However, this stress-related decrease in investment was not observed in the case of the generous partner. This suggests that being more careful doesn’t mean you’re bad at judging people.
Maybe someone doesn’t want to trust another person at first but can still tell if that person is fair.
What Happens If Someone Breaks Your Trust?
Trust is not built in a day. One unexpected act can destroy it. To test how people responded to changing behaviour, the researchers manipulated the actions of the computer-controlled partners in the experiment.
When a generous partner suddenly turned selfish, participants grew more confident in their negative assessment of that partner. When a selfish partner began to act generously, participants were less certain they could trust that person. These overall responses were independent of the amount of lifetime stress participants had experienced.
The mathematical analysis of the data also indicated a possible difference: those more exposed to stress had more variable beliefs about how reliable others were, consistent with expectations being updated more quickly. But this doesn’t mean that people who have experienced more stress recognize betrayal faster in everyday relationships. The experiment was designed to measure decision-making in a controlled environment, not how people respond to betrayal in real life.
Is Being Less Trusting Always a Bad Thing?
Not always. We are prone to seeing trust as good and distrust as bad. But real relationships are messy.
Trusting someone who is consistently kind and reliable can help build a strong bond. However, if you trust someone who has already taken advantage of you more than once, you might be disappointed again. Being careful is not inherently unhealthy.
More lifetime stress, the researchers suggest, might be linked to a recalibration of how people approach trust, rather than a loss of the ability to judge others. That difference is important. If you have been through a lot of hardships, you might enter a new interaction with lower expectations, but you might respond positively if someone turns out to be reliable.
But there are disadvantages to always expecting the worst. Even if someone doesn’t have a reason to be suspicious, believing that new people are unlikely to be trustworthy can make it harder to form connections. One possibility, the study suggests, is that these patterns may influence real-life relationships, but the study doesn’t say exactly how.
Does Past Stress Cause Trust Issues?
That’s a good question, and the researchers couldn’t answer it with a definitive yes or no. The study found a link between lifetime stress and trust patterns. It did not show that those patterns were directly caused by stressful experiences.
There are several reasons to be cautious when interpreting the findings. First, the study included only 168 adults, with an average age of about 27 years. Results may differ from person to person, depending on age, background, and other factors.
Second, participants self-reported their previous stressful experiences. We don’t always remember things accurately from our earlier lives. Third, trusting a friend, family member, or romantic partner is not the same as deciding to share credits in a game.
Finally, the associations observed were small. There may be other factors involved in how people develop trust. Future research will need to follow people over longer periods and examine how these patterns unfold in everyday relationships.
How Do You Build Trust After a Rough Patch?
If you’ve had stressful experiences and find it hard to trust people, you don’t have to force yourself to be completely open with everyone. Trust doesn’t have to happen all at once. There are practical ways to approach new relationships while still respecting your own comfort level.
Give Trust Time to Build
You don’t have to trust someone after one conversation. Watch their actions over time and see if they match their words.
Begin Small
If you find it hard to trust someone, it may be difficult to share something personal with them or even count on them for something important. Maybe you should start with smaller commitments so you can see how someone reacts before you make bigger decisions.
Watch Their Behaviour, Don’t Just Rely on Previous Experience
Past experiences can shape our expectations of people. But a new person isn’t necessarily going to act like someone who has disappointed us before. Look at the evidence in front of you. Don’t assume that every situation will play out the same way.
Set Healthy Boundaries
Trust and boundaries can exist together. You can care about someone and still be clear about what you are willing to share or accept. It can also be helpful to talk to a qualified mental health professional if you are finding relationships especially difficult because of past experiences or ongoing distress.
The 2026 study did not test these recommendations. They are general relationship advice.
What This Research Means for Your Relationships
The most useful lesson from this research is perhaps that being careful about trust is not the same thing as being unable to trust. People bring different experiences to relationships. Some have had the benefit of steady support for most of their lives. Others have had doubts, been disappointed, or gone through difficult experiences many times.
These experiences can affect the way they relate to people they don’t know. But the new findings suggest that higher stress exposure does not necessarily result in a reduced ability to detect cooperation or selfishness. In the experiment, those with more lifetime stress were initially more cautious but still responded differently to generous and selfish partners.
That gives us an important thought to ponder. Trust isn’t something you either have or don’t have. It changes as we learn about people, see what they do, and decide whether we can trust them.
Past experiences may have a bearing on where that process begins, but not necessarily where it ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Long-Term Stress Make You Less Trusting of People?
A 2026 study found that people who reported more lifetime stress were less trusting initially in an experimental game. But the findings don’t mean that stress directly causes distrust.
Does Trauma Make You a Better Judge of People?
The study did not show that trauma specifically makes someone better at reading people. The experiment showed that those who had experienced more lifetime stress were better at distinguishing between generous and selfish partners, but it does not demonstrate a general advantage in real-life social judgment.
Why Do Some People Struggle to Trust Others?
Trust is shaped by personal experiences, expectations, relationship history, and other psychological and social factors. The study suggests that stress over the course of a person’s life may be one factor related to how they respond to new interactions.
Can Trust Be Developed Over Time?
Yes. People’s trust can change when they see how others behave. During the experiment, participants adjusted their decisions as they learned more about their partners, even when those partners changed their behaviour.
Is It Bad to Be Careful About Trusting People?
Not necessarily. A little caution can help you make better decisions. But always expecting the worst can make it more difficult to form positive relationships.
Source of the Study
Nitschke, J. P., Mikus, N., Scanferla, L., Slavich, G. M., & Lamm, C. (2026). Lifetime stressors are linked to changes in social learning and trust building in dynamic social interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 123, e2608572123.
Read the original scientific paper This article is for educational purposes only. It is not a medical or psychological diagnosis and is not a substitute for advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
