One of the core components of emotional intelligence is the ability to accurately perceive emotions, both your own and other people’s. And this matters because the primary foundations of trust are built on interpretation. If you misread someone’s tone, intentions, motivations, or discomfort, you will inevitably misjudge the degree to which you can trust them.

A 2023 study published in Frontiers in Psychology highlights that people with higher emotional intelligence are more accurate at identifying emotional cues within interpersonal exchanges. Similarly, the more accurately they perceive another’s emotions, the more likely they are to be able to predict their behavior and anticipate their needs. These accurate predictions can eventually lead to stronger trust-building from both ends.

In other words, emotionally intelligent people are less likely to trust impulsively. But they’re also less likely to distrust prematurely.

This is the primary reason their relationships, both personal and professional, tend to be more stable. The question that arises, then, is how they are able to make such accurate perceptions. The answer isn’t that they have a natural or special talent for it. In fact, there are several habits and practices that they engage in regularly that cumulatively translate into this intelligence. Here are six of them.

Trust-building often goes wrong when emotional reactions overpower rational assessments. If someone annoys you, challenges you, disappoints you, or simply triggers an old insecurity, the likelihood that your emotional reflex will override the bigger picture of the situation increases........

© Psychology Today