Some people start with zero trust in strangers and keep their guards high until they see enough signs that they feel comfortable letting their guard down. For these people, trust is slowly earned and a privilege, never a given. Trust is the ultimate placing of faith in someone, and that’s not something to be taken lightly.

On the other hand, other people immediately embrace strangers with open arms and assume good intentions. This is where trust is automatically given as a policy, with the understanding that it can be lost.

Wherever you might fall on that spectrum, it’s clear that trust is assigned different values based on people’s experiences. If you’ve had positive experiences with being open with strangers, you’re more likely to continue in that fashion, and vice versa. This is all to say that trust can be a hard quality to nail down, perhaps harder than other facets of likability and charm.

Continue reading “How To Be Trustworthy”