Eight (8) signs a person can't be trusted

24th of January 2022

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Has anyone ever broken your trust? Don't you wish you could have known how untrustworthy they really were instead of learning the hard way? There are many different ways to find out whether or not someone is trustworthy to prevent heartbreak and betrayal. Some are extremely obvious while others are small and subtle. Below are (8) signs someone cannot be trusted.

1. They Break promises

Has this person broken promises in the past, do they have a bad habit of spilling secrets they promise not to tell anyone, do you trust them with intimate details about your life but sooner or later you discover they've let your secrets slip? If you know someone who hasn't kept their promises, they'll probably do it again.

2. They hide things from you

Does someone you know hide certain parts of their lives, are they overprotective of their phone, do they change the subject whenever you want to know more about them or their lives? If the answer is yes, then they may have something to hide.

3. They don’t understand themselves

You know someone who lies to themselves- for example your friend is loud and obnoxious every time you see them, yet they always describe themselves as shy and reserved. Their self-image doesn't really match their behaviour in other words they lack self-awareness, so they end up lying to themselves. These people will claim to be trustworthy without realizing how untrustworthy they really are even to themselves.

4. Unpredictable

In 1985, a study Holmes, Rempel and others discovered that predictability is a powerful measure of trust. If someone is consistent, they're more likely to be truthful and dependable whereas if someone is unpredictable, they may betray your trust. Predictability according to Holmes and Rempel

5. They react negatively to everything

According to a 2015 study by Lindsey M. Rodriquez and others, negative reactivity is a common sign of distrust.  does this person get angry at you for everything? If so, deep down they may feel insecure about your friendship or relationship, they probably don't trust you.

Your trust gets stronger when it's mutual, if someone trusts you, you’d have more reason to trust them, if not they're more likely to go behind your back.

6. They get jealous easily

Jealousy is another tell-tale sign that your trust doesn't go both ways. Several studies have found that jealousy stems from a fundamental lack of trust. Your partner for example may get nervous when you're gone. Why?  Because they don't completely trust you. As mentioned above, if someone doesn't have faith in you, they may not deserve your trust.

7. They project their insecurities

Do you know someone who is constantly accusing you? Imagine you're having trouble in school, you're taking a really difficult class but you're working as hard as you can to keep up, then one night you tell your friend about how you're struggling, and they suddenly accuse you of being a quitter. Why would they say something like that? Chances are they're wrestling with a problem in their own life as well, they're thinking about quitting so they're projecting those negative feelings onto you. Even if they aren't lying to you on purpose projection makes it difficult to trust the advice your friends are giving you.

8. They're just too different

In a 2002 study, it was found that similarity creates trust. In other words, you trust people who are similar to you because we believe similar people understand us better. we assume that they know how we feel so we trust them with fragile information. Someone who's really different may not understand the way you think so they're less likely to preserve your trust.

Conclusion

When someone has betrayed you, it becomes difficult to ever trust someone again, those feelings of bitterness and betrayal can haunt you for years. Regardless of what you’ve been through, there are still trustworthy people in the world, so don't lose hope and don't close yourself off. The right person will come at the right time!