Individual assignment 1: To trust or to distrust

--To friends having studying or working experience overseas.

In our life, we are experiencing to make the decision. Sometime, we pay for the wrong decision or get benefit from making right decision. This story is about trust. The story happed in Singapore, where I finished my undergraduate degree. This instance, for me, is quite sad. Even now, when I recall it, I still feel very disappointed.



After moving home from student dormitory, I was worried to rent the flat. At that time, my classmate invited me to join in since she and her friend had rent a flat recently by agent. Considering the pressure of study, I did not expect to spend extra time finding by myself. There was no doubt that I said 'yes' with my two friends. She told me the rental fee for the flat was $2500 (Singapore Dollar) per month and I did not have any doubt since I trust her would not lie to me. Unfortunately, after one year, neared to expire date of tenancy agreement, I heard of the news from agent that the rental fee for this flat was $2100. Obviously, I got the feeling that she betrayed me and my friends. The fact was that the $400 could be extra money. It really drove me burned and angry. However, I did not say and do anything as I had two semesters to be her classmates. The head-on confrontation would not be good way for following group project, even though I had turned mad.

The decision making process of trusting her is quite simple and smooth. The reason why I decided to trust her so easy could be explained in some perspectives. Firstly, we come from same country. People always feel intimate and are willing to trust persons who have similar background, interest and value mentioned by Robert. F. H (September, 2006). That girl and I come from East of China and we are in same classes. These number of similarities drive me to trust her. In overseas, it appears more importance to help each other and care about each other. I think I can get more support from her when I need help. Robert F. H (September, 2006) clarified another factor influencing people's decision making, alignment of interest. The aligned interest was that we all needed the residence to live, so it is reasonable that she would offer reasonable fee.

 

Considering the practical situation that if I looked for the flat by myself, the transaction cost would be pretty high including time and energy. As Roderick, M. K (1999) thought trust can reduce transactional cost by operating heuristic.  So when I made the judgment, I chose the heuristics decision making approach. Trust is the representative of the heuristics in this instance. Unfortunately, trust should be evaluated sincerely. The risk in this instance can be my friend being the principal tenant and get the benefit from the rental fee because I do not check the contract. And she even gave us the telephone number and address of landlord. This action improved the trustworthiness. Sometimes, it is hard for us to negotiate with friends, especially about money. It make us uncomfortable. The reason can be communal norms between friends. As Leigh L. T (2009) explained that communal norms between friends mandate that people should be sensitive about what friends' need, rather than trying to maximize our own interests. In this instance, it took my classmate two weeks to find this flat and solve problems about the contract. If I still asked her for checking the contract it might seems like I did not trust her and so guilty I was. And by self closure, I am a harmony oriented in this situation. I do not prefer to put us all in embarrassed circumstance in the following study time. So I kept silence.

 

Through this kind of experience, when I deal with trust issue, the more important thing is to get sufficient information about the incident and person involved. Instead of affective judgment, I tend to become rational oriented judgment. In my opinion, it is false to trust people becuase what they said and what they look like. Either in daily life, or in the workplace, the trustworthiness of people should be assessed, especially money involved. For another example, I found the flat in Hong Kong by myself even I may spend more time and energy. And I will collect more questions about rental. The merit of my behavior adjustment is that everthing is under my control and make me feel safe.

 

 

 

Reference list

• Kramer, R. M. (1999). Trust and distrust in organisations: emerging perspectives, enduring questions. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 569-598.

• Hurley, R. F (2006, Septermber). The decision to trust. Hardvard Business Review, 84(9), 55-62.

• Thompson, L. L (2009).5th. ed. The mind and heart of the negotiator. UK: Pearson International.