Trust is hard to gain, easy to lose and difficult to repair once it has been broken. Many people would say a major violation of trust is more likely to hasten the end of a relationship than a small one, but research shows there are more factors at play that determine whether or not broken trust can be rebuilt.
According to the Harvard Business Review, research shows that while breaches of trust can ruin a relationship, "the impact of a violation depends less on the type of transgression and more on the mindset of the trusting party."
The mindset of the person who feels their trust has been violated plays an important role in how they react to the perceived deception. There are two primary categories of mindsets in this context, according to HBR. People with a "fixed" mindset cling to an initial view of others — if they believe someone is trustworthy, they sustain this belief, even when presented with disconfirming evidence. As a result, those with a fixed mindset are more inclined to maintain trust in someone who disappoints them. The converse is also true: A person with a fixed mindset who believes another is untrustworthy based on a first impression will hold on to this belief. People with "growth" mindsets readily take in new information and update their perception of others accordingly.
In one study, 94 MBA students completed a negotiation and reported how much they trusted their counterpart immediately after closing a deal. Afterwards, researchers informed the students they were deceived in the negotiation. Those with growth mindsets incorporated the new information and revised their perceptions of their counterparts to reflect a loss of trust. Those with the fixed mindsets discounted the new information and continued to indicate trust in their counterparts.
In a follow-up study with 258 participants, researchers found that those with fixed mindsets were more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who they learned deceived them, and even make up excuses for their deceptive behavior. People with the growth mindset, again, changed their perceptions to show a loss of trust.
The number of violations of trust also impacts how people perceive the transgressor's trustworthiness. Regardless of mindset type, people whose trust is violated numerous times eventually stop trusting the transgressor — it just takes people with fixed mindsets to change their perceptions.