i received this complementary book from NetGalley & i’m very glad i did. the contents of the book challenged ways of thinking that i’ve taken for granted over the course of mi life. it was a dense read & it made me emotional on a number of occasions, but i pushed through. i now feel more confident & equipped as a community leader. i can only hope others are able to push through their own biases to enjoy this read as well.

In-depth look about how trust works between people and the self. I am likely going to purchase this title for the library because it was an interesting and needed read.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an unbiased review

A comprehensive look at Trust. Why we trust; why we don't trust; how we can earn trust back; and when lying is ok because it doesn't matter. There are many examples of studies that were done that he interprets to prove his assertions. Very good and thought provoking.


Thoughts while I am still reading
There is discussion about the different responses to the Tylenol vs. IRA bombing apologies
Tylenol did nothing wrong other than not anticipate that someone would tamper with their product to cause others harm. Their apology was acknowledging that the event happened and describing the steps they would do to prevent it from happening again. The IRA bombing was intentional, the apology was more of an excuse, and it didn't say they wouldn't do it again.

There is discussion on whether it is better to not apologize at all.

This is a relevant and current book to anyone who has empathy and compassion for others. Trust is a very important and necessary concept and value to have. The different relationships and scenarios throughout the book are great examples why trust is such an imprtant value. Having trust and being trustworthy is so important for any person.

It was obvious reading this that the author did his research and presented his research sicinctly. I hope he writes more books like this in the future.

Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dr Kim and Flatiron Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available

Peter Kim's HOW TRUST WORKS explores the possibilities of trust between us, whether broken or honored and held. While I enjoyed his discussion of an essential and important issue for all of us in this fractured time and reading the data and anecdotes shared to make his points, overall I was disappointed in learning nothing that I hadn't read before nor seen handled in other, more adept hands. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book because it's a very dry read for me. It's got clinical research and info that might be a good resource for some.

(I did not finish this title, I gave up on it but since NetGalley requires a star rating I have assigned the book a 1 star.)

United States Publication: August 15, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

I am positive this is a valuable resource/book to have and to read. But, after several tries and only getting to 19% and being unable to stay awake while reading it no matter what time of day it was, I decided to give up trying to get through it. Kim knows his stuff, however, the way he shares it in this title is a little verbose and a smidge too academic for a casual reader to pick up and read. Trust is such a timely and important topic that I wish it read more engaging and accessible to a wider audience.

This book gives a good overview of the research and knowledge on trust: how it forms, how it is violated, and how it can be rebuilt. The selection of events that are used as examples to illustrate various points are well-chosen and relevant. The organization of the book is also helpful, with later chapters building on or referencing ideas introduced in previous ones. For some of the descriptions of experiments, I would have appreciated a diagram, table, or chart to depict the setups. I sometimes found it difficult to keep track of who was doing what in which experiment. I especially enjoyed the discussions of the importance of perceptions in trust violations, and the different factors that influence the reception an apology receives. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about trust, people's perceptions of one another, and how to build connections.

This book, How Trust Works, is a book about just that. It gives background into what makes us all tick when it comes to trusting others. Also defining the meaning to trust. There are a lot of statics quoted in this book.

This books does not read smoothly, at least for me. It is more along the lines of a scientific paper with examples. Which is fine, just not my style. I originally picked up this book as the company I would for was talking about this very topic and trying to define it. I think this book would be a great read for the workplace and would help us understand what trust is, how it works, and the best way to build trust.

Wow. Just, wow.

Reading Kim's book has made me think a bit more deeply about the way that I trust others. I never quite realized just how much simple trust I place in other people, from the person who repairs my phone when it's broken, to the cafe employee who hands me my coffee, I trust them to work in my best interest constantly. Kim's insight into this topic opened a whole new field of thought for me, and the analysis about the way that trust is so integral to so many parts of life, from job interviews to relationships, made for a read that was both mentally and psychologically deep.

The multitude of examples provided by Kim on the way that trust operates, with elaboration on certain subjects such as the justice system, gave me a perspective that I really value, and made this a good book to sit down and read when you are trying to be more mindful about the way you operate in the world. I highly recommend this read for anyone interested in a quick book to sit down and read about the way that people function, and leave the book feeling more knowledgeable and aware about the way you exist.

I do not believe any of my criticisms hold weight taking in the whole of the book. It is perfectly accustomed to its niche of psychologically inclined individuals, with precise and accurate examples and a variety of resources to create the best support for the thesis presented from chapter to chapter.

A fantastic read that all should check out- particularly employers or people at the head of companies! So insightful and written at the perfect time as we all navigate so many things in life that test our trust daily. Thank you, Dr Kim!

In this book it did an excellent job talking about trust. By the end of the book I could compare life to trust and how life works in the real world. Amazing comparisons. It was very educating about how trust works and what trust is

I entered this book thinking it would center primarily on micro-level relationships- friends, family, small groups. But Kim zooms out quite a bit--covering research on macro-level trust in the context of political divisiveness, for example. I did skim around some, as portions were dry. The overall experience felt like a chunk of clinical pages, followed by a Malcom Gladwell-esque anecdote. For me, this could have been an interesting article or podcast episode, but didn't hold my attention for an entire book. I will keep an eye on Kim's research, though. His research does interest me.

This is an interesting book that reads more like a dissertation than something you’d find on a bookstore shelf. The author covers a huge range of information, jumping from one example to the next in huge swaths of ideas. It was an interesting ride, but I was rarely sure exactly what point he was driving towards on any given page. I had hoped for a bit more that was applicable to daily individual life. But it’s interesting to consider his point that the very success of societies often hinges on how quickly trust is extended in everyday interactions. It’s worth the read for his musings on this point.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a bit of a tricky book to rate, but it was interesting.

On the one hand it felt dense at times. It's packed with information including both academic information and anecdotes. But it also felt a little pop science-y at times and reminded me of a NPR podcast. This is really a book about how we form trust and what people generally find trustworthy, not about what it means to trust someone or become more trustworthy or anything like that. It's a book that seems to focus more on people as a group than what we as individuals do to learn, break, or repair trust.

This is truly a deep dive into all the whys, wherefores, and mechanics of what trust is and isn’t, in all its forms. It is written like a textbook, with many examples, tests, and studies, to prove its point. If this is what you’re searching for, then this is a book for you, an academic study into trust; however, if you were looking for a more relational book, such as learning how and when to give trust, and how to know if someone is trustworthy, and how to become more trustworthy yourself, then this isn’t what you are looking for at all. I find this book difficult to rate, because depending on what exactly you desire to get out of it, you could give it many or few stars. I will settle on 3 stars for lack of a better option. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

I admit, I read approximately 50% of this book. The concept is very interesting and I think the book in its entirety would be fully engaging for other social psychologists or individuals doing research in trust and related fields. Despite being a graduate student in clinical psychology with an interest in restorative justice and peace building, the structure of this book did not grab me. Perhaps that's my subjectively lower interest in social psychology (I kept wanting to think about the "case studies" presented in greater context, and felt that the variables assessed for did not adequately capture the nuances of history and culture). But there were also areas in the book I felt missed the mark, and attempted compassionate understanding of human nature while expressing the idea itself in a remarkably callous way. For example, the author discusses behavioral conditioning, a really important concept in understanding human behavior. He talks about how the salience of an issue depending on one's identity can impact one's decision to engage in opposition to a perceived conflict (such as resisting anti-abortion efforts, or resisting racist oppression). Then, he compares these experiences to one of Skinner's pigeons poking at a target due to operant conditioning. Similarly, he at times uses word choice which diminishes the lived experiences of non-male individuals, or individuals from different racial backgrounds, such saying that opposition to the lawyer involved in the Central Park Five case occurred during a "hypersensitive" time regarding race relations. Is the culture becoming hypersensitive? Or is the culture asking critical questions more loudly for the first time in a while?

Ultimately, if the narrative he tells about trust was engaging enough to me as a clinically-focused psychologist, I would have kept reading. Unfortunately, time is short, and I don't continue reading books if I am not caught in. I gave it a very good shot, however, by reading about half! This book may greatly interest social or I-O psychologists and students. However, it will not be ending up on my bookshelf.

Excellent! Do you have issues with trust? Head out and get this book; it gives you a lot of answers to issues. Thanks to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for this advanced reader copy. If you are wondering about relationships, trust, and repair, this will be the book.