Lab #4 Trust Survey

For my lab, I did a trust survey. I asked questions in my survey that involved the topic of trust. I sent the survey to my friends back in Maine. They were all around the ages of 17-18. Both genders responded to the questions I asked and all their responses were pretty similar. For example when they were asked to rate their trust of friends and family they all responded with high levels of trust. On the other hand, when they were asked how much they would trust a stranger they responded with lower ratings, which displays the declining social capital levels.If I were to do this lab again, I would have surveyed a larger more varied group of people. Trust levels change with each generation causing social capital to gradually decline.


Trust Survey
How would you define, in your own words, the term trust?

Trust, to me, is a mutual feeling where you can fully depend on some one. A feeling where you have no worries whenever you are with that certain person and you know that whatever may happen that person will be by your side through the entire thing. -Eleanor

Trust is alleged existence of security. Individuals believe they are being protected and taken care of when they enter into a situation where they relinquish something of value to them (tangible or not) -Reid

I think trust is the ability to share your secret and embarrassing moments with friends/family and know that they will not tell anyone or judge you. -Kelly

To feel comfortable enough around someone so that you feel safe allowing them to borrowing things and keep your secrets. -Emily

the action where one person makes themselves defenseless by all means to another person for the sake of achieving some sort of goal. -Mark





Do you believe trust should be gained gradually or should it be immediately given to people?

I think that trust is gained gradually. It can’t simply be given to some one, it needs to be earned over time, through small gestures of kindness. Trust is built on a strong foundation of friendship. -Eleanor

I like to think that there is a level of trust among all humans. I prefer to give trust until trust is broken. I think that we as a society understand the value of trust and unless there is a preexisting reason why the trust would be violated, I see no reason why a low level of trust can't be handed out upon meeting. -Reid

I definitely think trust is a gradual gain. -Kelly

I think that there are certain levels of trust. I think for the most part trust should be given until a person does something to warrant it being taken away. However, I also think that there are certain things, such as secrets and more important material possessions that due to human nature you can only trust someone with over time. -Emily

Gradually. it is possible to give it immediately, but only through some sort of incredible action that would grant such a gift. but generally it is a gradual growing process. -Mark



Do you think people are generally trustworthy?

Generally, I believe that people are trustworthy until they do something to terminate that trust. -Eleanor

Yes I do. I think I touched on it before, but I think most people see the value of trust and don't purposely go around breaking it without some legit reason. -Reid
I really think it depends on the type of person/ how long you have known them and stuff.
-Kelly

I think trust is all based off of loyalty. If the person is loyal to you and your feelings than they will be trustworthy to you. -Emily

most are after enough time, but some aren't at all. this is usually due to some traumatic event. -Mark

How long does it take for someone to gain your trust?

I think it takes people a while to honestly gain my trust. I would say about six months. That seems like a long time but to me trust is really important and if you are to truly trust some one, to worry about nothing whenever you are with them, or to be able to tell them anything, then that relationship takes a while to create. -Eleanor

I give people a small amount of trust when I first meet them, but to really trust them it takes me about a week or two of pretty frequent interaction. -Reid

I think trust can be at different levels. but to have complete trust it takes years. -Kelly

People generally have my trust from the beginning, but in only a moment they can loose it. -Emily

That varies on what I would trust onto them. I would trust to tell most people that I have four brothers at the moment I introduce myself. after an introductory, I would trust to tell them my father has MS. After years of loyal friendship, I might trust them to the stories of my past and my deeper secrets. -Mark


Have you had any experiences that have affected the way you view the topic of trust?

Yes.

Just generic people gossiping anecdotes that make me guard certain secrets a little more heavily. -Emily

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being very untrustworthy and 10 being very trustworthy) how much do you:
(please give brief explanation for why you scaled it the way you did.)

-trust your best friend?

9, 10, 10, 10, 10

-trust a stranger?

2, 3, 1, 5. 1

-trust your family?

10, 7, 7, 10, 10

-trust someone younger/older than you?
Younger: 7, 5, 9, 8, 5
Older: 6, 5, 9, 8, 6

-your girlfriend/boyfriend?

6, 9, 10 (if you cant trust your bf/gf enough to invite them into your life entirely, what sort of relationship are you left with?)


Answer yes or no to these questions...explanations are optional. Would you:

-Let someone you didn't know borrow your cell phone?

To call home for a ride or something, yes, but I would watch them as they did it.

-Let a friend borrow 10-20 dollars?

(one) No. (the rest) yes.

-Let a friend borrow your ipod?





Yes, but only if they were with me, not if they were leaving or taking it somewhere else.

-Tell a friend your deepest/darkest secret?

Only a best friend/most likely/only one friend/to an old friend