Dr. Jamil Zaki

Wow. I love that question. There is a lot of variance. And the data on cynicism are much more local to the U.S. typically. I mean, for better and for worse, a lot of research on this is done in an American context. But That said, there's a lot of data on generalized trust, which you could say is an inverse of cynicism, right?

So for instance, there are national and international samples of major surveys which ask people whether they agree or disagree that most people can be trusted. And there's a lot of variance around the world. In general, the cultures that are most trusting have a couple of things in common. One, they are more economically equal. than untrusting cultures.

So for instance, there are national and international samples of major surveys which ask people whether they agree or disagree that most people can be trusted. And there's a lot of variance around the world. In general, the cultures that are most trusting have a couple of things in common. One, they are more economically equal. than untrusting cultures.

So for instance, there are national and international samples of major surveys which ask people whether they agree or disagree that most people can be trusted. And there's a lot of variance around the world. In general, the cultures that are most trusting have a couple of things in common. One, they are more economically equal. than untrusting cultures.

So there's a lot of great work from Kate Willett and Richard Wilkinson that they have a book called The Spirit Level, where they look at inequality across the world and relate it to public health outcomes. And one of them is trust. There's also a variance in trust over time. So you can look at not just are there places or cultures that trust more than others, but when

So there's a lot of great work from Kate Willett and Richard Wilkinson that they have a book called The Spirit Level, where they look at inequality across the world and relate it to public health outcomes. And one of them is trust. There's also a variance in trust over time. So you can look at not just are there places or cultures that trust more than others, but when

So there's a lot of great work from Kate Willett and Richard Wilkinson that they have a book called The Spirit Level, where they look at inequality across the world and relate it to public health outcomes. And one of them is trust. There's also a variance in trust over time. So you can look at not just are there places or cultures that trust more than others, but when

Does the culture trust more or less? And in the US, that's sadly a story of decline. In 1972, about half of Americans believed that most people can be trusted. And by 2018, that had fallen to about a third of Americans. And that's a drop as big, just to put it in perspective, as the stock market took in the financial collapse of 2008. So there's a lot of variance here. both across space and time.

Does the culture trust more or less? And in the US, that's sadly a story of decline. In 1972, about half of Americans believed that most people can be trusted. And by 2018, that had fallen to about a third of Americans. And that's a drop as big, just to put it in perspective, as the stock market took in the financial collapse of 2008. So there's a lot of variance here. both across space and time.

Does the culture trust more or less? And in the US, that's sadly a story of decline. In 1972, about half of Americans believed that most people can be trusted. And by 2018, that had fallen to about a third of Americans. And that's a drop as big, just to put it in perspective, as the stock market took in the financial collapse of 2008. So there's a lot of variance here. both across space and time.

And one of the, not the only, but one of the seeming characteristics of cultures that tracks that is how unequal they are. In part because research suggests that when you are in a highly unequal society, economically, there's a sense of zero-sum competition that develops. There's a sense that, wait a minute, anything that another person gets I lose.

And one of the, not the only, but one of the seeming characteristics of cultures that tracks that is how unequal they are. In part because research suggests that when you are in a highly unequal society, economically, there's a sense of zero-sum competition that develops. There's a sense that, wait a minute, anything that another person gets I lose.

And one of the, not the only, but one of the seeming characteristics of cultures that tracks that is how unequal they are. In part because research suggests that when you are in a highly unequal society, economically, there's a sense of zero-sum competition that develops. There's a sense that, wait a minute, anything that another person gets I lose.

And if you have that inherent sense of zero-sum competition, then it's very difficult to form bonds. It's very difficult to trust other people because you might think, well, in order to survive, this person has to try to outrun me. They have to try to trip me. They have to try to make me fail for themselves to succeed.

And if you have that inherent sense of zero-sum competition, then it's very difficult to form bonds. It's very difficult to trust other people because you might think, well, in order to survive, this person has to try to outrun me. They have to try to trip me. They have to try to make me fail for themselves to succeed.

And if you have that inherent sense of zero-sum competition, then it's very difficult to form bonds. It's very difficult to trust other people because you might think, well, in order to survive, this person has to try to outrun me. They have to try to trip me. They have to try to make me fail for themselves to succeed.

Andrew, I love this trip down memory lane. I'm having all these childhood memories of Tigger and Sesame Street. There's so much in what you're saying. I want to try to pull on a couple of threads here, if that's okay. First, and this one is pretty straightforward, the effect of cynicism on well-being is just really documented and quite negative.

Andrew, I love this trip down memory lane. I'm having all these childhood memories of Tigger and Sesame Street. There's so much in what you're saying. I want to try to pull on a couple of threads here, if that's okay. First, and this one is pretty straightforward, the effect of cynicism on well-being is just really documented and quite negative.

Andrew, I love this trip down memory lane. I'm having all these childhood memories of Tigger and Sesame Street. There's so much in what you're saying. I want to try to pull on a couple of threads here, if that's okay. First, and this one is pretty straightforward, the effect of cynicism on well-being is just really documented and quite negative.

So there are large prospective studies with tens of thousands of people, several of these studies that measure cynicism and then measure life outcomes in the years and decades afterwards. And the news is pretty bleak for cynics, right? So absolutely lower levels of happiness, flourishing satisfaction with life, greater incidence of depression, greater loneliness.