you can trust in me

Self-ControlInspiresTrust

,onemustbelievethepersonhasyourbest

'shardtotrustalou(unlessofcourthelouisonyourside).Second,

onemustbelievethepersoncandowhathesays—onemusthaveconfidenceinhiscompetence.

ndalignedinterestsaren'tmuch

goodifyourbuddy'toffindingsrevealsnotonlythatpeoplecanperceive

others'chronicandmomentarylevelsoflf-control,butthatweuthisinformationtojudge

others'trustworthiness.

Thepaper,publishedintheMayissueoftheJournalofPersonalityofSocialPsychologyby

FrancescaRighettiandCatrinFinkenauerofVrijeUniversiteitAmsterdam,reportedfour

irst,subjectsreadaboutastudentwithmoneyproblemswhoeitherresisted

theurgetoshopatarecordstoreorsplurgedonabunchofCD'eyansweredquestions

aboutthestudent'ny-pincherreceivedhigherratings

thanthespenderonbothcounts,andratingsoftrustworthinesswerefullydependentonratings

oflf-control.

SeeAllStoriesIn

WhomCanYouTrust?

Howtosorttheliarsamongusfromreliablefolk—andbuildothers'confidenceinyou.

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Inthecondexperiment,peopleincouplesratedtheirpartnersonlf-control,trustworthiness,

andbehaviorsindicativeoflf-control:forgiveness,reliability,t

forgiving,reliable,andsuccessfulpartners(asperceivedbytheirsweethearts)werejudgedto

,aftercontrollingforotherfactors,

theeffectsthatperceivedforgivenessandreliabilityhadonperceivedtrustworthinesscouldbe

'reforgiving,thatmeansyoucan

handleyourshit,tswerealsomorecommittedtopartners

perceivedtohavehighlf-control,becautheytrustedthemmore.

Studies3and4testedtheeffectsofnsingthatsomeonehadtemporarilydepletedlf-control.

Subjectswerelesslikelytotrustanotherpersonwhenthepersonhadjustperformedadifficult

taskfor15minutesversus2minutes.(Instudy4,trustwasmeasuredbyinvestmentinone's

partnerduringaneconomicsgame.)Again,perceivedtrustworthinesswasinfluencedby

perceivedlf-control.

"Ihaverarelyconductedrearchthatyieldedfindingsthatweresoconsistentacrossdifferent

typesofrelationships(strangersandmarriedcouples),paradigms(experimentalandsurvey

studies),andmeasures,"Finkenauerwrotemeinanemail.

Ifyouwanttoimproveyourfriendshipsorromanticlife,Finkenauerrecommendsworkingon

improvingyourlf-control—whichcanbedonewithsimpleexercis."Anincreasingamount

ofrearchhighlightstheimportanceofhavinggoodlf-controlforthedevelopmentand

maintenanceofharmonious,long-lastingrelationships,"indingxtendsthis

rearchbyshowingthatyourleveloflf-controlisonconstantdisplay,andcanbeud

arp!