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Should YOU trust ME? If you're intelligent enough, you can probably figure it out.
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Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews. Here's something you might not think about everyday:
TRUST. Trust is a vital part of life and relationships. I mean, if you're unwilling to trust anyone
or anything, it would be a cynical, sad life indeed. A few years ago, the Pew Research
Center found that, worldwide, societies that trust each other have lower rates of crime
and corruption. They found the most trusting countries are Canada (of course), Sweden (also
not surprised), Britain, and the USA. Relevant (!) because trust ultimately...makes the wheels
of society turn. Social institutions like financial markets, public health departments,
and welfare programs require trust to operate. The ability to trust others has also been
linked with higher rates of happiness and health by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science
Center.
Recently, Oxford published another study about trust in PLOS 1, and what they found was verrrrrry
interesting. They found that people who score higher on measures of intelligence are more
likely to trust others, while those who score lower on intelligence measures are more suspicious
of people. This is after controlling for things like income, marital status, and level of
education. What does intelligence have to do with something like trust?
They have a couple theories. One is that the smarties are better able to tell someone's
character. Are they the right kind of person to let their guard down with? Or are they
a shady brady? A better read of someone's character may help intelligent people to avoid
those who are more likely to betray. Another theory is that intelligent people are better
at looking at the full context of a situation -- so they can better evaluate if another
person has an INCENTIVE to betray their trust.
The finding is important not just because trust is a key player in the ever elusive
goal of peace -- but it also lends a hand to another evolutionary theory. The theory
being that a good judge of character is an important part of human evolution passed on
through natural selection. In other words, reading someone's trustworthiness has a survival
advantage. Of course, that would need some further testing.
Question for you folks: do you tend to trust people? Or do you find it challenging? I mean
hey, maybe you've had some experiences that taught you otherwise. Thanks for joining me
for DNews! I'll see you again soon with more science updates.