Trust In A Relationship-Is It Important?

Trust in a relationship is a very important aspect of the relationship, for without trust the relationship is doomed. To trust someone is to believe in them, To have no doubt about what they tell you and their actions when you are apart. It is based on honesty, integrity and credibility.  It is very important to develop and keep trust in a relationship for once the trust is broken, then the relationship is broken.

Wiki defines trust as:  One party (trustor) is willing to rely on the actions of another party (trustee); the situation is directed to the future. In addition, the trustor (voluntarily or forcedly) abandons control over the actions performed by the trustee. As a consequence, the trustor is uncertain about the outcome of the other's actions; he can only develop and evaluate expectations. The uncertainty involves the risk of harm to the trustor if the trustee will not behave as desired.

So let's examine this thing called trust a little closer.  As a relationship begins a person believes without much proof what the other is saying and doing, the trust hasn't been broken so there is no reason to doubt.  As the relationship grows and two people start depending and relying on each other, the opportunity for trust to be broken becomes larger.  We have all heard about little white lies.  Well, too many little white lies adds up after awhile. I also believe that the individual integrity of a person and their past hurts will affect their ability to be truthful or to trust their partner.

If a person has been hurt in the past then after awhile they may start doubting the things you tell them.  They start having doubts about whether the other person can be trusted.  Are they really going to their Mothers?  Are they really going to help their friend?  The little nagging doubts are constantly in their head, and trying to maintain any kind of trusting relationship with them can prove to be very difficult.  It will take a lot of work and Patience on you part to build that trusting relationship.

On the other hand you might be seeing someone who cannot be truthful.  A recent study by Jennifer Argo of the University of Alberta showed that people are even more willing to lie to coworkers than they are to strangers."We want to both look good when we are in the company of others (especially people we care about), and we want to protect our self-worth," Argo told LiveScience. "I guess closely tied to this is that people appear to be short-term focused when they decide to deceive someone—save my self-image and self-worth now, but later on if the deceived individual finds out it can have long-term consequences," she said.

"It's tied in with self-esteem," says University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman. "We find that as soon as people feel that their self-esteem is threatened, they immediately begin to lie at higher levels." Feldman says people should become more aware of the extent to which we tend to lie and that honesty yields more genuine relationships and trust.

So if you are just starting out in a relationship or are in a relationship and have concerns about trust in a relationship then please read my article "Building Trust In Your Relationship".  It should help your current situation or give you some useful advice on maintaining trust in a relationship