New survey reveals that a quarter of UK adults mistrust others

Researchers from the University of Oxford surveyed a representative group of 10,382 UK adults. It was the most comprehensive survey of paranoia – defined as excessive mistrust of other people –carried out to date. Alongside social causes, the survey found that several psychological factors were involved in triggering and maintaining mistrust. The survey was conducted between 15 and 23 March 2023 with 10,382 UK adults, quota sampled to match the population for age, gender, ethnicity, income, and region. The paper, ‘Explaining paranoia: cognitive and social processes in the occurrence of extreme mistrust’, is published in BMJ Mental Health.