Trust is the same currency that opens the door to the heart of interaction between people. But why do we so often question its value? According to NewDay with reference to Psychology Today, trust has two faces: on the one hand it gives the opportunity to cooperate, on the other – it can lead to betrayal. And it is in this duality, according to researchers, the most interesting part of trust is hidden. It not only allows you to learn more about others, but also to teach us important – how our own perception works. If you decide to trust someone, then sooner or later you will receive a response that will confirm or refute your trust. But what happens when we don't trust? In that case we will never know if we would be right or wrong.
Trusting is like a bet. Two possible options: either we get what we expected or is disappointed. And even in the case of betrayal we still learn. However, when we choose the path of distrust, we give up this opportunity. We do not find out if our assumption was correct or just a mistake. And this, in turn, limits our understanding of the outside world. But there is another, less obvious side of distrust. It turns out that distrust can provoke the same behavior we are so afraid of. If the manager does not trust his employees and constantly controls them, it only leads to a decline in the initiative by employees, which only confirms the fallacy of conviction of their unreliability.
According to research, people who trust others are able to more accurately assess the level of trust in a particular group. This allows them to adjust their ideas and respond more accurately to the situation. At the same time, those who do not trust are often mistaken in their estimates and, as a result, underestimate people around them. This creates a closed circle where distrust only confirms itself, and there is no opposite effect. Moreover, the inability to trust their employees can have difficult consequences for organizations: high level of staff turnover, low employees' involvement and lack of psychological safety, which holds back innovation and risky steps. The environment in which everyone is focused on protecting themselves does not provide opportunities for true cooperation and development.
but should we always wait for someone to deserve our trust? Many experts agree that sometimes it is much more useful to trust the first. This approach allows you to find out faster who is worth trust and who is not. And even if we are mistaken, we learn from our own mistakes. Trust is not naivety, it is an active choice that allows you to move forward and create more effective interactions. If someone betray our trust, we will be able to quickly stop this cooperation and avoid greater losses. That is why it is important to remember: you should not always wait for proof. Sometimes it is better to take a step first.
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