Theories of Personality 9th Edition

544 Part VI Learning-Cognitive Theories

plane in which they travel; and even that the postal service will deliver the mail

without tampering with it. Societies can function smoothly only when people have

at least a moderate amount of trust in each other.

Rotter (1980) summarized results of studies that indicate that people who

score high in interpersonal trust, as opposed to those who score low, are (1) less

likely to lie; (2) probably less likely to cheat or steal; (3) more likely to give oth-

ers a second chance; (4) more likely to respect the rights of others; (5) less likely

to be unhappy, conflicted, or maladjusted; (6) somewhat more likable and popular;

(7) more trustworthy; (8) neither more nor less gullible; and (9) neither more nor

less intelligent. In other words, high trusters are not gullible or naive, and rather

than being harmed by their trustful attitude, they seem to possess many of the

characteristics that other people regard as positive and desirable.

Maladaptive Behavior

Maladaptive behavior in Rotter’s social learning theory is any persistent behavior

that fails to move a person closer to a desired goal. It frequently, but not inevita-

bly, arises from the combination of high need value and low freedom of movement:

that is, from goals that are unrealistically high in relation to one’s ability to achieve

them (Rotter, 1964).

For example, the need for love and affection is realistic, but some people unre-

alistically set a goal to be loved by everyone. Hence, their need value will nearly

certainly exceed their freedom of movement, resulting in behavior that is likely to be

defensive or maladaptive. When people set their goals too high, they cannot learn

productive behaviors because their goals are beyond reach. Instead, they learn how

to avoid failure or how to defend themselves against the pain that accompanies failure.

For example, a woman whose goal is to be loved by everyone inevitably will be

ignored or rejected by someone. To obtain love, she may become socially aggressive

TABLE 18.3

Sample Items From Rotter’s Interpersonal Trust Scale

1. In dealing with strangers, one is better off to be cautious until they have provided
   evidence that they are trustworthy.


2. Parents usually can be relied on to keep their promises.


3. Parents and teachers are likely to say what they believe themselves and not just what
   they think is good for the child to hear.


4. Most elected public officials are really sincere in their campaign promises.


5. In these competitive times, one has to be alert or someone is likely to take advantage
   of you.


6. Most people can be counted on to do what they say they will do.


7. Most salesmen are honest in describing their products.

From J. B. Rotter, 1967. A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. Journal of Personality, 35,

p. 654; and M. R. Gurtman, 1992. Trust, distrust, and interpersonal problems: A circumplex analysis. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 62, p. 997.