In every facet of life, society is dependent on others to behave in trustworthy ways. However, building trust in any relationship can be quite a difficult task; therefore, trust is the key to all interpersonal relationships, because without it, no real, genuine connections are established or maintained. That said, according to Dr. David Johnson, social psychologist and author of Reaching Out:Interpersonal Effectiveness and Self-Actualization, trust is the foundation for building and maintaining caring and productive relationships, which essentially measure the health of a relationship, as well as the level of intimacy between partners (Johnson, 2014, p.97). Johnson also argues that trust has a major impact on one’s well-being, interpersonal
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In other words, a simple betrayal has the power to threaten one’s ability to trust, however, it can only affect our self-worth if we let it. That said, I gained a deeper understanding of myself after the betrayal since I became aware of the fact that I was unable to keep a balance between an open heart and a clear mind; hence, the healing process revealed my patterns of behaviour in times of adversity. To begin, the series of lies and indiscretions from both parties resulted to shame, humiliation and depression. Needless to say, I became an angry, suspicious and bitter individual.The trauma of the betrayal also damaged my ability to trust others; hence, I began viewing people through a cautious and negative lens which, in return, generated a self-fulfilling prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy, as Johnson defines, is a belief that comes true because one is acting as if it is already true (Johnson, 2014, p.105). Therefore, with the failure of any meaningful, trustworthy relationship, an individual may become more and more convinced that their false beliefs are valid. Thus, while reinforcing a certain negative belief, I came to the realization that it was not completely my friend and fiancé’s fault since I withheld honest communication with my competitive friend and became too trusting of my partner. On that note, according to Johnson’s research, competition in friendships decrease trust and never trusting and always trusting are always inappropriate in interpersonal relationships (Johnson, 2014, p.99). Moreover, at a liminal level, Johnson also argues that trust is the absence of fear in a relationship; hence, my greatest mistake was disregarding my intuition and pinning both my friend and fiancé as the highway to my happiness and
In other words, a simple betrayal has the power to threaten one’s ability to trust, however, it can only affect our self-worth if we let it. That said, I gained a deeper understanding of myself after the betrayal since I became aware of the fact that I was unable to keep a balance between an open heart and a clear mind; hence, the healing process revealed my patterns of behaviour in times of adversity. To begin, the series of lies and indiscretions from both parties resulted to shame, humiliation and depression. Needless to say, I became an angry, suspicious and bitter individual.The trauma of the betrayal also damaged my ability to trust others; hence, I began viewing people through a cautious and negative lens which, in return, generated a self-fulfilling prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy, as Johnson defines, is a belief that comes true because one is acting as if it is already true (Johnson, 2014, p.105). Therefore, with the failure of any meaningful, trustworthy relationship, an individual may become more and more convinced that their false beliefs are valid. Thus, while reinforcing a certain negative belief, I came to the realization that it was not completely my friend and fiancé’s fault since I withheld honest communication with my competitive friend and became too trusting of my partner. On that note, according to Johnson’s research, competition in friendships decrease trust and never trusting and always trusting are always inappropriate in interpersonal relationships (Johnson, 2014, p.99). Moreover, at a liminal level, Johnson also argues that trust is the absence of fear in a relationship; hence, my greatest mistake was disregarding my intuition and pinning both my friend and fiancé as the highway to my happiness and