“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Sorry for the delay, it has been a little long since the last post in this series on trust. For those who have suffered through my posts so far, I thank you so much. For those yet to read them or understand the purpose behind them, well here is a brief run down.
I have found trust to be the reason why I have difficulty digging myself out of isolation. It is a lack of trust in others, as well as my fear that they lack trust in me. In my previous posts through self-study, counseling, and reading I came up with five common reasons why there may be distrust in a relationship. In my previous posts we discussed past experiences, then was fear of vulnerability. The other three are cultural and social factors, personality traits, and lack of communication.
Today I want to talk about my investigation of cultural and social factors and their impact on trust. I did not want to go in depth into these as I have on my other posts. The reason being is I did not find these being a major impact to how trust or distrust is playing a role in my isolation. However, I decided they needed to be done justice by giving them their due. I found that the cultural, political, and social factors could easily be broken into six categories. These categories are: discrimination, power imbalance, corruption, ideological differences, propaganda/misinformation, and cultural differences.
Socio-cultural factors include a persons' lifestyles, buying habits, education, religion, beliefs, values, demographics, social classes, sexuality and attitudes.
Some cultures and societies have a general lack of trust in others, especially strangers. They say that this can be due to varied reasons, but some may be historical or political factors, or even cultural norms.
As an example, in a society that has experienced political corruption, oppression, and instability, people are often more cautious about trusting others. I have found this to be especially true when I was a a team leader or trainer in those places. On the other hand, in a culture valuing freedom and independence, then caution or skepticism is often the order of the day when it comes to trusting others.
It should also be noted that there may be different expectations when it comes to trust depending on the culture. Some cultures may base trust off familiarity and personal relationships. Other cultures may base trust off reputation and social status of the other person.
The level of trust in culture or society has a significant impact on interpersonal relationships, social cohesion, and economic development. Moving forward I am going to have to understand and recognize the factors contributing to trust, or distrust, to address it and promote more trust if dealing with others from different socio-cultural backgrounds.
Discrimination against others
Discrimination is typically based on race, gender, religion, or other factors. I have limited experience with discrimination, whether victim or witness, but I know from what experience I do have that it can create sadness, fear, anger, and anxiety between people. This is not conducive at all to building trust in relationships between individuals or groups.
It seems to me that discrimination must be addressed at its underlying causes. This would seem to require the difficult task of changing policies, practices and the promotion of greater diversity and inclusion within a culture.
Power imbalances between individuals and groups
What I learned about power imbalances is that when one group holds power over another, through systemic oppression, or other means, it can create a sense of fear and mistrust between the two groups. The group in power may use their position to exploit, marginalize, or exclude those who are marginalized or oppressed, which can lead to a breakdown in relationships and a lack of trust.
I continued to gather, and found it sad, that these effects of trauma and injustices are then passed down through generations, thus passing along the distrust. This can make it difficult to build trust between groups even after the original power imbalance has long been addressed.
Supposedly the best way to build trust in these situations is to acknowledge the power imbalances and work towards addressing them. Like with individual trust, this can involve actively listening, but to marginalized voices and creating opportunities for marginalized individuals to have a say in decisions that affect them. However, I am not sure generations of mistrust can be solved that easily. Just look at some of the social challenges of today created by power imbalances from the past in our world.
Corruption among institutions and officials
Corruption is a disease that can undermine and erode trust in officials and the institutions that serve and protect people. It undermines the institutions’ legitimacy and that of the officials. It creates a mistrust in the system and makes it seem like it is “rigged”. People start feeling like their voices and concerns no longer matter in a corrupt system.
My studies, and personal experience suggest that it requires a sustained effort in rebuilding trust in the institutions and officials with a commitment to accountability, ethical behavior, and transparency.
Ideological differences
It seems an “us versus them” dynamic is often created when there is fundamental differences in beliefs and values between groups and individuals. This makes it difficult, but not impossible, to find common ground. When these beliefs are closely held to a person’s identity this is especially true and it makes it difficult for them to accept alternate viewpoints.
This topic is something I really have thought about a great deal and discussed with my older brother a lot. I think we agreed that trusting people with different ideological beliefs first requires a willingness to engage in dialogue with each other, then listen to the opposing viewpoint, and then look for the common ground between the two. They should always try to work for a greater understanding and mutual respect to bridge the divide and build trust.
Propaganda and misinformation
It is obvious to me, without any study, that the spread of propaganda and misinformation can create a climate of suspicion and distrust in government and officials. But throughout history it has also been used to stoke fear and suspicion towards certain groups, which can contribute to a breakdown in relationships and trust between groups and individuals. This leads to division and conflict and can make it difficult to build trust across social, political, and economic groups.
To deal with propaganda and misinformation and rebuild trust, it is important to promote better media literacy and critical thinking skills. This can involve providing education and training on how to identify and evaluate sources of information, and more importantly with today’s 24 hour “news” channels, how to distinguish between fact and opinion.
Cultural differences
When there are cultural differences, it can pose a challenge to building trust between individuals. When individuals or groups come from different cultural backgrounds, they may have different values, beliefs, and communication styles that can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations.
I think other lessons in trust apply here. Building trust across cultural differences requires a willingness to learn, listen, and engage. By developing some competency skills and creating opportunities for cross-cultural communication and collaboration, it is possible to build bridges and create trust.
And once again we are at an end. There will be another post on the topic of trust in a few days. I hope you will be here for the ride with me as I discuss personality traits and trust next time.
Thanks,
Joe
I would be happy to hear what you have to say and share with me. I need it to help me grow, to get out of this shell, dig out of my hole. To become a better person.
Note: Image source Canva.com
