A recent University of Oxford Study has found that clever people are more likely to trust others than their naive counterparts.
Researchers said that intelligent people are better at assessing situations and judging characters. They are more likely to form relationships with people who are less likely to deceive them.
Researchers said that this is a significant study because social trust plays a vital role in institutions like welfare systems, public health, government policy, private charity and financial markets. Plus, previous studies showed that people who believe others report better health and greater happiness.
"Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others, even after taking into account factors like marital status, education and income. This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence which evolved through natural selection," Lead author Noah Carl, from the Department of Sociology, said in a statement.
The finding is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Distrust usually causes friction in personal relationships, careers and politics among others, says Stephen Covey, the author of 'The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything,' Oprah reports.
Stephen said that trust is all about having confidence in others. There are a total of five different types of trust: Self-trust, Relationship trust, Organizational trust, Market trust and societal trust.
Although majority of people say that trust can never be restored once it's broken, Stephen feels it can be brought back."It's not easy, it takes time, but you do it through your behavior, not just things you say. When it comes to rebuilding trust, Stephen says actions always speak louder than words."
According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, trust is in increasingly short supply in current generation. This decline threatens world leaders' capacity to tackle some of today's key challenges like corporate responsibility, global warming, and the political system.
Bruce Schneier's book, 'In Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive' highlights the importance of understanding the mechanisms of trust in today's hyper-connected society. In the book, Schneier discusses the critical role of trust in facilitating and stabilizing human society.
