Problem of Basic Trust

'Trust is not tangible. It arises from expectations, repeated experiences, social cues and the interpretation of intentions. In low-contextual thinking, this process is often difficult, leaving basic trust fragile.

Difficulties in low-contextual thinking

• Difficulty sensing intentions behind behavior → interpretation happens mainly literally.
• Little tolerance for ambiguous or inconsistent signals → trust quickly collapses upon deviation.
• Limited change of perspective → difficult to think: "maybe he didn't mean it that way."
• Difficulty with pattern recognition over time → each event is more isolated.
• Expectations are not fulfilled by themselves → trust must be reaffirmed over and over again.

Examples

Casus

A friend doesn't reply to a message once.

The low-contextual person immediately concludes: "He is no longer interested."

There is no room to consider context (busy, forgetting, other priority). Confidence collapses immediately.

Casus

A partner says "I trust you."

The low-contextual person only experiences this at that moment.

Because there is difficulty with timelines and linking behavior over the longer term, this trust must be explicitly confirmed again and again.

Trust over time

Essentially, trust builds through:

• pattern recognition in behavior over a longer period of time,
• integration of past, present and expectations for the future.

Because low-contextual people have difficulty with this type of integration, they experience trust as something that needs to be restored over and over again. Basic trust is therefore difficult to establish, and remains vulnerable in the event of minor disruptions.

Further

See also personality disorders for the consequences of fragile basic trust in the DSM classifications.