“Push and Pull of Trust and Distrust” by Joan Y. Edwards

Trust and distrust cause a big push and pull in relationships. Google says that trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. In your writing, you may be able to use the trust/distrust tendencies of human nature to add a little intrigue and interest in a character or situation in your story. Trust creates limitless possibilities with relationships with yourself, significant others (family, friends, and co-workers). It gives you confidence and helps you remain calm. On the other hand, distrust rips you apart emotionally. Your confidence disappears. Your hope for the future is tainted by worry and unrest.

Are you paranoid about trusting others? What causes you to distrust others?

If your caregivers were not dependable when you were a baby or a young child, you may have more problems trusting people than a child whose parents were dependable and trustworthy. I think sometimes you don’t trust yourself and therefore you don’t trust others in the same area. If you can’t trust yourself to do what you say you are going to do, you may not trust anyone else to do what they say they are going to do. If you lie all the time, you might have a hard time believing that others are telling the truth.

You can answer these first six questions about yourself to see if there are things you might want to work on improving your trust in yourself and others. Or ask these questions about one of the characters you are using in a story. I reworded Martha Beck’s questions from her Huffington Post article to make it personal.

If your answer is “Yes” to the following questions, then you probably trust yourself

1. Do you show up on time?

2 Do you do things when you say you’re going to do them?

3. When you describe an event, it is correct? Does it match the information others give about it?

If your answer is “YES” to the following questions, you probably don’t trust yourself in this area.

4. Do you lie to people or assume that others will help you deceive another person?

5. Do you ever withhold information to make things go more smoothly or to avoid conflict and confrontation?

6. Do you ever lie, cheat, be unkind or do other things that you would condemn another person for doing the same thing?

A new experience that causes you to distrust a significant person in your life can rip you apart emotionally. It causes pain. The closer the person is to you and the more you trusted them before this event, the bigger the rip is to your heart.

Brandon Smith shared signs that you can’t trust your co-workers in an article on his blog:  http://theworkplacetherapist.com/signs-you-cant-trust-your-co-workers/. I reworded them here. You can assign these traits to the antagonist or villain in your story and create tension galore for your main character. It could rip him apart.

Signs of Distrust in a Co-Worker

• Is dishonest and never truthful.
• Does not always do what he says he will do
• Usually doesn’t carry out the responsibilities of his job.
• Makes it harder for you to succeed by keeping vital information from you
• Gets irritable when you or others get in his workspace.
• Sees you as a threat to his job.
• Acts jealous of you and your job in the company
• Wants your job or wants to replace you with one of his favorite employees.
• Deliberately destroys, damages, or obstructs your success

Signs of Distrust in the Workplace

• Everyone secures their desks and offices with locks or security systems.
• If you leave food in the break room area, it is never there when you go back for it.
• Fellow employees gossip constantly about you and other employees.
• Criticism is widespread at work. No one receives praise for doing a good work or showing outstanding effort.
• An employee who is having a hard time with his job never receive help or extra training to complete a project.
• Workers set out to beat other employees in any manner possible, even if it is unethical, illegal, or cruel.
• Your boss gives special favors to employees he likes.
• You do not know your job responsibilities as they keep changing according to the whim of your boss.
• Your boss is never pleased with any part of your performance even when you complete all the work as outlined in your contract successfully and even do extra things beyond the call of duty that help your workplace.
• (I added this one) Your boss takes credit for your ideas.

Is your relationship with your partner defined by honesty and dependability—or suspicion and betrayal? To help you decide, use the quiz at the University of California, Berkeley Greater Good Berkeley: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/5

Resources

1. Brandon Smith. “Signs You Can’t Trust Your Co-Workers:” http://theworkplacetherapist.com/signs-you-cant-trust-your-co-workers/.
2. Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. “Paranoia:” http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Paranoia.html
3. Greater Good Berkeley.Edu. University of California, Berkeley.  “Relationship Trust Quiz.” http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/5
4. Kendra Cherry. “Trust Versus Mistrust:” http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/trust-versus-mistrust.htm
5. Martha Beck. Huffington Post. “Simple Test Reveals If Someone Is Trustworthy:” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/trust-issues-dependable-relationships_n_4098395.html

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope I have helped you discover many reasons to trust yourself and many ways to show the villains in your stories can’t be trusted. How do you decide whether to trust someone? Please tell me in a comment.

What? You’re not subscribed to my blog? Receive free gifts. Subscribe now. Join 700,000 visitors. You’ll be sent an email to confirm your subscription. Thank you.

Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards, Author
Copyright © 2014-2019 Joan Y. Edwards
Flip Flap Floodle Will this little duck’s song save him from Mr. Fox?
Joan’s Elder Care Guide A guide to help caregivers and elders find solutions.
80 Gospel-Based Crossword Puzzles for Year B Fun for Children’s Liturgy, Children’s Church, Sunday School, and Home Bible Study.