What is the trust equation?

• A. Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-orientation
• B. Trust = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy - Self-orientation
• C. Trust = (Credibility + Reliability) / Intimacy + Self-orientation
• D. Trust = (Credibility + Intimacy) / Self-orientation

Answer: (A)

The trust equation shows how trust is built by pulling together three positives and dividing by what can erode it. Credibility, reliability, and intimacy each add to trust: credibility is belief in your knowledge and honesty, reliability is consistent, dependable behavior, and intimacy is the sense of safety and closeness you create, making others feel understood and cared for. But self-orientation—the extent you put yourself first—erodes trust. Placing self-orientation in the denominator reflects how selfish focus can diminish trust, even when you’re credible, reliable, and intimate. So the overall trust people have in you rises with higher credibility, reliability, and intimacy, and falls as self-orientation increases.

Why the other forms don’t fit: simply adding credibility, reliability, and intimacy ignores the dampening effect of self-orientation. Treating self-orientation as a subtractor or placing it elsewhere changes the relationship between the components and trust, and mixing division with the wrong elements (or leaving out intimacy) misrepresents how close, safe, and selfless behavior influence trust.