ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses the delicate balance of trust representing the issue of trusting too much or too little. It discusses the betrayal and a strategy for dealing with that problem in a given social relationship. A growing body research has shown that low trust promotes psychosocial maladjustment. The chapter expresses that low trust beliefs longitudinally predicted increases in loneliness for three age groupings: early childhood, middle childhood, and young adulthood. The relations between low trust and increases in loneliness were both direct and mediated by measures of disengagement from social relationships. The undergraduates in the priming distrust condition were required to memorise words that included those on distrust. The purpose of the memorisation of those words was to increase the accessibility of distrusting thoughts. Low trust beliefs indirectly contribute to loneliness because they result in individuals' unwillingness to engage with others, low disclosure, and a lack of perceived rapport in interactions.