Trust is one of the most important components of any type of relationship. You can't invite new people into your life or make a long-term commitment unless there is trust - and professionally, your employer must trust you if you are asking for a major promotion. Unfortunately, as time goes on, Americans are becoming less trusting. The General Social Survey (GSS) has been collecting information about Americans' trust in others since 1972 and has found that people seem to trust everyone much less today than they did 40 years ago. But it turns out that something as simple as changing your clothes can change other people's perceptions of you. A recent study points to specific shades of trust that people associate with high levels of trust. Read on to find out what colors you might want to introduce into your closet.

The color we wear affects how people perceive us

For centuries, people have been using fashion as a form of self-expression. Not only the clothes we wear, but also the colors we wear have proven to have one of the most effective effects. "The color of our clothes is a signal to others; it tells them who we are," explains fashion company The Good Trade.

Susan Gagnon, a fashion expert and editor-in-chief of Costumes Heaven, told Best Life that the concept is at the heart of a field of study: color psychology, which seeks to determine how certain colors affect human behavior. "Our brains are connected to sensory triggers with emotions. Some triggers inspire happiness, while others trigger sadness," Gagnon explained. "Therefore, different colors get different emotional responses from us, such as trust." Thankfully, you don't have to spend your own time trying to figure out which color is associated with higher levels of trust - because researchers have already determined the answer in a recent study.

This is the most trustworthy color you can wear.

Researchers from Soochow University in China recently sought to "explore the effect of clothing color on trust" and published their findings in the International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology (IJERT) in May 2021. The researchers collected 32 participants and conducted a study in which they assessed their level of trust in digital characters wearing identical suits that were Photoshopped into different colors: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, orange, yellow-green, blue-green and blue-violet. According to the study, blue, followed by blue-violet, was considered the most trustworthy color. The researchers wrote, "Those who wore blue and purple received higher trust ratings."

Blue is usually associated with positive traits.

Color expert and retail interior designer David Lee says colors such as blue and purple may make others think we are more trustworthy because of the "positive associations" associated with these hues. For example, according to Gagnon, blue is often associated with the sky, which is "calm and serene. "So when people see other people wearing blue, their brain associates it with the calmness of the sky," she says.

According to Lee, traits such as calmness and serenity can increase people's sense of security toward others. "It helps build trust and makes you feel safe. It conveys reliability," he explains. Of course, you can choose to wear blue for important occasions, such as during a job interview. But your natural attraction to certain colors actually does say something about who you really are. "The color you choose to wear represents your tendencies," Gagnon says. "We unconsciously choose colors that match our personalities."

You may wish to avoid using green.

The IJERT study also identified the color of clothing that received the lowest trust rating: green. According to Gagnon, this shade is "usually associated with aggressive and ambitious people. While this may sound like a good thing, it can make people think you're very self-motivated - which doesn't always provide the best foundation for trust.

As Lee points out, green is also often associated with more explicitly negative traits, such as deceit and greed, and Jessica Kats, a fashion expert and lifestyle writer at Soxy, reiterates that the hue is associated with jealousy and envy. "In many cultures and traditions, it is considered an untrustworthy color," she explains.