1 in 4 Brits doesn’t trust their boss

One in four Brits doesn’t trust their boss, a new study has found.

A poll of 2000 people found one in four employees doesn’t trust their boss, with workers in the North East (30%) the most distrusting of those that cover their pay cheques.

Around one in 10 don’t always have faith in their sibling, while the average Brit takes almost three months to fully trust someone after first meeting them.

On average we need 87 days to get to know someone before we can feel we can completely depend on them. And while 10% of adults claim to trust someone within minutes, almost the same number (8%) admit it can be years before they feel able to let their guard down completely.

The study, commissioned by window installer Network VEKA also revealed that maintaining eye contact, always texting back and happily sharing your phone or social media passwords are among the top signs you can be trusted. Spreading office gossip or fidgeting when talking are among the things that make Brits untrustworthy.

A spokesman for Network VEKA said: “Being able to trust someone you don’t know that well is difficult, especially if you have had a bad experience in the past.

“But we have to trust people to some degree every day whether we have a close relationship with them or not, such as our work colleagues.

“As a result, it can take time to put your trust in someone completely, and we are constantly on the look-out for signs that we can trust someone when we don’t yet know them well enough to base it on anything else.”

The study found only making promises you know you can keep is the biggest sign of how trustworthy you are, followed by always maintaining eye contact, speaking your mind, and rarely or never turning up late. Having good personal hygiene, a firm handshake and soft kind eyes also in the top 10.

Almost half of the adults polled believe you can tell how trustworthy someone is simply from their appearance.

Researchers also found just 24% of Brits find it easy to depend on someone, with 60% saying it takes them weeks or more before they feel completely at ease. In fact, while the average adult has a relationship of some kind with 26 people, they trust just 16 of them.