Job loss could lead to decade of distrust

A new study has explored that losing one's job scars trust to such an extent that even finding new work may not reverse it.

The study conducted at University of Manchester suggested that people who lose their jobs are less willing to trust others for up to a decade after being laid-off.

According to the new findings of social scientist Dr. James Laurence, being made redundant or forced into unemployment could scar trust to such an extent that even after finding new work this distrust persists this meant that the large-scale job losses of the recent recession could lead to a worrying level of long-term distrust among the British public and risks having a detrimental effect on the fabric of society.

Dr. Laurence, an ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) Future Research Leaders Fellow at the University of Manchester, said that people's willingness to trust others tends to remain largely stable over their lifetime. However, this work showed that trauma like redundancy could shift people's outlook of the world and this change persists long after the experience occurred.

Dr. Laurence asserted that even a single experience of redundancy could lead to depressed trust and what was particularly concerning was that people reported less willingness to trust others even after they got another job.

The study showed that the experience of redundancy can scar an individual's trust in others.

The study examined 'job displacement', meaning involuntary job loss from redundancy, downsizing, restructuring, or similar.

The study is published in the journal, Social Science Research.