Trust Or Suspect? (or Slavic Hamlet)

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

In my psychotherapeutic practice, I often work with people who are told that it is difficult for them to trust, open up, build close and trusting relationships. Such clients experience difficulties in making life decisions, they ponder and weigh for a long time, it is difficult for them to cooperate with Others (What if they betray? And what if they cheat?), These people seem to be “on guard” all the time, on the alert and are in constant tension.

These processes take them a lot of time and effort, but life goes on, time passes and there are no changes in life.

In R. Cattell's multifactorial personality questionnaire, there is one scale - “Gullibility-suspiciousness” (factor L). As you know, each of the scales of this questionnaire represents a bipolar continuum. This scale characterizes the emotional attitude towards Others and is associated with the level of internal tension and anxiety.

Suspicion Is a socially conditioned personality trait. It is not congenital, but is formed in the process of development and gaining social experience (often this quality is a consequence of the unformed “basic trust in the world” (E. Erickson), or a previous experience of betrayal, rejection, passive-aggressive attitude of loved ones.

Suspicious individuals get stuck in the past, the painful experience seems to overshadow the possibility of another, better and more fulfilling future. Fullness and meaningfulness are lost. Such people live according to the principle: "neither to themselves, nor to people." Their strategy in life is precautionary, defensive. According to R. Cattell, this form of behavior plays the role of a protective mechanism of the psyche, thereby compensating for the feeling of insecurity and fear.

Gullibility, as the opposite of suspicion, it is often associated with naivety, innocence. Personally, I associate gullible people with all the famous hero of Russian fairy tales - Ivanushka the Fool, who is distinguished by his ingenuousness, gullibility, dreaminess, non-criticality, lack of arrogance, modesty, kind-heartedness, friendliness, openness and inclination to take risks. This hero successfully overcomes all obstacles, solves seemingly impossible tasks and problems, so to speak, accepts the "challenges of Fate" and responds to them with dignity. And as a result, he wins over evil forces, gets a royal daughter, wealth, power and glory as his wife.

“Fools, only they achieve everything in fairy tales. So they should be the subject of careful study by smart ones”VB Shklovsky.

It turns out that "Someone" sets before Ivan, at first glance, "a supernatural task, which he fulfills with dignity in the finale. On the way, Ivan meets other heroes who provide him with all kinds of help and support.

In this context, I also remembered the hero of the film by Robert Zemeckis "Forrest Gump".

So why does Ivan win? Why is his gullibility such a powerful resource?

The phenomenon of trust acts as a regulator of relations, since it includes those feelings and beliefs that act as motives of behavior. Thus, it turns out that such a stable personality trait as trustfulness contains a powerful potential, motor force.

A. F. Bolnov gives the problem of trust an existential perspective, arguing that trust and hope are pillars for overcoming individual negative existential experiences, which require the search for resources not in oneself, but in external reality. Trust in being is a necessary condition for existence, and hope acts as an attitude towards life, trust in the future [1].

Martin Buber noted that trust is possible "only in the full relevance of human life" [2], that is, life without trust is incomplete, limited.

The founder of logotherapy V. Frankl considered the phenomenon of trust in the context of life meanings, a sense of inner freedom. Self-realization, creativity, full-fledged, meaningful life is possible only in conditions of openness and trust in the world [3].

In the therapy of suspicious clients, I work in two directions:

• Working through past experience. Working with emotions, feelings, living and thinking. Finding resources and meaning in experience.
• Motivation to choose a new strategy of behavior and readiness to take responsibility for their choices (Russian fairy tales and the film "Forrest Gump" to help).

Mistrust is an integral and important component of social interaction and in some situations a certain degree of it is necessary to ensure security. T. P. Skripkina [4], exploring the phenomenon of trust, says that trust is characterized by selectivity and measure: "I choose whom to trust and how much." The choice of an object of trust and level, degree, depth. Well, the choice - as I said in my previous article - is also the responsibility for its consequences.

Close and trusting relationships - for those who find the strength to work through the experience of the past, the courage and courage to face their fears and for those who are able to take risks. Otherwise, how can the Miracle of true Intimacy and Meeting come into your life?

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When writing the article, the following materials were used:

1) Bolnov, A. F. Philosophy of existentialism / A. F. Sick; translated from German and preface by S. E. Nikulin. - SPb.: Publishing house "Lan", 1999. - 224s.

2) Buber M. Two images of faith / M. Buber. - M.: Respublika, 1995.- 464 p.

3) Frankl V. Man in the vision of meaning / Victor Frankl. - M.: Progress, 1995.-- 368 p.

4) Skripkina, T. P. Psychology of trust (theoretical and empirical analysis) / T. P. Skripkin. - Rostov n / a: Publishing house of the Russian State Pedagogical University, 1997.-- 250 p.