Genetics influence almost all human attributes. Our genes affect our appearance, our intelligence, and our susceptibility to ailments. Researchers have also determined that our personality is highly influenced by genetics. Some scientists anticipate that nearly all personality traits will eventually be linked to our genetic code. But there is at least one human trait that defies genetics. So far, it appears that our ability to trust is not genetically determined or even genetically influenced.

Infants begin life with a high capacity to trust. They are suspicious of no one. Over time, however, their ability to trust diminishes. They eventually learn that all people have flaws and that many things will cause them harm. Children discover that they are vulnerable creatures. They realize that mistrust and caution are far more likely to ensure security than unthinking trust.

Some people trust experts instantly, while others not at all. Any bestowal of trust is far more a statement of the trustor than the trusted. Of course, there is nothing an expert can do about an audience’s history, but SMEs should be aware that a person’s ability to trust them was molded through years of experience. An expert’s credentials or logic may be enough to gain the trust of some people, but they are probably not enough to gain the trust of everyone. Just because a person does not trust an expert immediately does not mean that person is unintelligent or ill-informed. To the contrary, someone’s ability to trust means they have traversed a life of experience and they have been conditioned by their environment to trust or distrust. Often their impulse is a learned response for their own survival.