Distrust is a formal way of not
trusting any one party too much in a situation of grave
risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...
or deep
doubt
Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, and is certainty, uncertain about them.
Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and wikt:disbelief, disbelief. It may i ...
. It is commonly expressed in
civics
In the field of political science, civics is the study of the civil and political rights and obligations of citizens in a society. The term ''civics'' derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". In U.S. politics ...
as a division or balance of powers, or in politics as means of validating
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
terms. Systems based on distrust simply divide the
responsibility so that
checks and balances
The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishabl ...
can operate. The phrase "
trust, but verify" refers specifically to distrust.
In systems of government
An
electoral system
An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...
inevitably is based on distrust, but not on mistrust. Parties
compete
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individ ...
in the system, but they do not compete to
subvert the system itself, or gain bad faith advantage through it—if they do they are easily caught by the others. Much mistrust does exist between parties, and it is exactly this which motivates putting in place a
formal system
A formal system is an abstract structure and formalization of an axiomatic system used for deducing, using rules of inference, theorems from axioms.
In 1921, David Hilbert proposed to use formal systems as the foundation of knowledge in ma ...
of distrust.
Diplomatic protocol for instance, which applies between
states
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
, relies on such means as
formal disapproval which in effect say "we do not trust that person". It also tends to rely on a strict etiquette—distrusting each person's habits to signal their intent, and instead relying on a global standard for
behaviour
Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...
in sensitive social settings.
Corporate governance
Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms, processes, practices, and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated by their boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders.
Definitions
"Corporate governance" may ...
relies on distrust insofar as the board is not to trust the reports it receives from
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...
, but is empowered to investigate them, challenge them, and otherwise act on behalf of
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
s vs.
managers
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administr ...
. The fact that they rarely or never do so in most American companies is a sign that the distrust relationship has broken down—
accounting scandals and calls for
accounting reform
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...
are the inevitable result. It is precisely to avoid such larger crises of trust in "the
system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
" that formal distrust measures are put in place to begin with.
In computer science
A
protocol as defined in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
uses a more formal idea of distrust itself. Different parts of a system are not supposed to "trust" each other but rather perform specific assertions,
requests and
validations. Once these are passed, the responsibility for
error
An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement.
In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...
s lies strictly with the receiving part of the system, not that which sent the original information. Applying this principle inside one program is called contract-based design.
Neurochemical studies
Neuroeconomics
Neuroeconomics is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain human decision-making, the ability to process multiple alternatives and to follow through on a plan of action. It studies how economic behavior can shape our u ...
explain how economists are attempting to understand why humans trust or distrust others by recording physiological measurements during trust experiments.
Economists conducted an experiment observing distrust through a trust game. Subjects were asked to anonymously donate various amounts of money to other anonymous subjects with no guarantee of receiving money in return. Various conditions were run of the experiment and after each decision, subjects' levels of the hormone
dihydrotestosterone
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, 5α-DHT, androstanolone or stanolone) is an endogenous androgen sex steroid and hormone primarily involved in the growth and repair of the prostate and the penis, as well as the production o ...
(DHT) were measured. The results of this experiment suggest men and women respond to distrust physiologically differently; a heightened level of the hormone DHT in men is associated with distrust. However, more research is needed in order to accurately state the correlation between the amount of DHT present in males and responses to distrust.
Sociological studies
It has been argued that by supporting healthy
suspicion and vigilance, distrust does not always have detrimental consequences and can be related to positive outcomes. It has been shown to increase the speed and performance of individuals and groups at certain tasks. It has been empirically shown that distrust increases performance in nonroutine (creative, unstructured) tasks while decreasing performance in routine (cooperative, structured) tasks.
Research on high-risk settings such as
oil platform
An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
s,
investment banking
Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...
, medical surgery,
aircraft pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...
ing and nuclear powerplants has related distrust to failure avoidance. When nonroutine strategies are needed, distrusting persons perform better, while when routine strategies are needed trusting persons perform better. This research was extended to entrepreneurial firms by Gudmundsson and Lechner.
[GUDMUNDSSON, S.V. and LECHNER, C. (2013) Cognitive Biases, Organization, and Entrepreneurial Firm Survival. European Management Journal, 31(3), 278-294] They argued that in entrepreneurial firms, the prospect of failure is ever present, resembling nonroutine situations in high-risk settings. They found that the firms of distrusting entrepreneurs were more likely to survive than the firms of optimistic or overconfident entrepreneurs, because the distrusting entrepreneurs would emphasize failure avoidance through sensible task selection, and more analysis. Kets de Vries has pointed out that distrusting entrepreneurs are more alert about their external environment.
[Kets de Vries, M. (2003). The entrepreneur on the couch. INSEAD Quarterly, 5, 17-19.] Thus, distrusting entrepreneurs are less likely to discount negative events, and are more likely to engage control mechanisms.
[Lewicki, R., McAllister, D., & Bies, R. (1998). Trust and distrust: New relationships and realities. Academy of Management Review, 23, 438 – 458.] Thus, according to Gudmundsson and Lechner distrust leads to higher precaution and therefore increases chances of entrepreneurial firm survival.
See also
*
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being responsible, :wikt:careful, careful, or :wikt:diligent, diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to ...
*
Cynicism (contemporary)
Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic p ...
*
Disgust
Disgust (, from Latin , ) is an emotional response of rejection or revulsion to something potentially contagious or something considered offensive, distasteful or unpleasant. In ''The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'', Charles D ...
*
Misanthropy
Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitude t ...
*
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a personality trait associated with negative emotions. It is one of the Big Five traits. Individuals with high scores on neuroticism are more likely than average to experience such feelings as anxiety, worry, fear, anger, shame ...
*
Resentment
Resentment (also called ranklement or bitterness) is a complex, multilayered emotion that has been described as a mixture of disappointment, disgust and anger. Other psychologists consider it a Mood (psychology), mood or as a secondary emotion ( ...
*
Skepticism
Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...
*
Suspicion (emotion)
Suspicion is a cognition of mistrust in which a person doubts the honesty of another person or believes another person to be guilty of some type of wrongdoing or crime, but without sure proof. Suspicion can also be aroused in response to object ...
References
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Reputation management
Concepts in ethics
Accountability
Doubt
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