fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 585  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Chapter 18     Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory585
hightrustisnotonlydesirable butessential forthesurvival ofcivilization. People trust
thatthefoodtheybuyisnotpoisoned; thatthegasoline intheircarswillnotexplode 
onignition; thatairline pilots know howtoflytheplane inwhich theytravel; andeven
thatthepostal service willdeliver themailwithout tampering withit.Societies canfunc-
tionsmoothly onlywhen people haveatleastamoderate amount oftrustineachother.
Rotter (1980) summarized results ofstudies thatindicate thatpeople whoscore 
highininterpersonal trust, asopposed tothose whoscore low,are(1)lesslikely to
lie;(2)probably lesslikely tocheat orsteal; (3)more likely togiveothers asecond 
chance; (4)more likely torespect therights ofothers; (5)lesslikely tobeunhappy, 
conflicted, ormaladjusted; (6)somewhat more likable andpopular; (7)more trust-
worthy; (8)neither more norlessgullible; and(9)neither more norlessintelligent. 
Inother words, hightrusters arenotgullible ornaive, andrather thanbeing harmed 
bytheirtrustful attitude, theyseem topossess many ofthecharacteristics thatother 
people regard aspositive anddesirable.
Maladaptive Behavior
Maladaptive behavior inRotter’s social learning theory isanypersistent behavior that
failstomove aperson closer toadesired goal.Itfrequently, butnotinevitably, arises from
thecombination ofhighneedvalue andlowfreedom ofmovement: thatis,fromgoals 
thatareunrealistically highinrelation toone’s ability toachieve them (Rotter, 1964).
Forexample, theneed forloveandaffection isrealistic, butsome people unre-
alistically setagoaltobeloved byeveryone. Hence, theirneed value willnearly cer-
tainly exceed theirfreedom ofmovement, resulting inbehavior thatislikely tobe
defensive ormaladaptive. When people settheirgoals toohigh, theycannot learn 
productive behaviors because theirgoals arebeyond reach. Instead, theylearn how
toavoid failure orhowtodefend themselves against thepainthataccompanies fail-
ure.Forexample, awoman whose goalistobeloved byeveryone inevitably willbeTABLE 18.3
Sample Items From Rotter’s Interpersonal Trust Scale
1. Indealing withstrangers, oneisbetter offtobecautious untiltheyhaveprovided 
evidence thattheyaretrustworthy.
2. Parents usually canberelied ontokeeptheirpromises.
3. Parents andteachers arelikely tosaywhat theybelieve themselves andnotjustwhat 
theythink isgood forthechild tohear.
4. Most elected public officials arereally sincere intheircampaign promises.
5. Inthese competitive times, onehastobealertorsomeone islikely totakeadvantage 
ofyou.
6. Most people canbecounted ontodowhat theysaytheywilldo.
7. Most salesmen arehonest indescribing theirproducts.
From J. B. Rotter, 1967. A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. Journal of Personality,  35,  
p. 654; and M. R. Gurtman, 1992. Trust, distrust, and interpersonal problems: A circumplex analysis. Journal of 
Personality and Social Psychology,  62, p. 997.Final PDF to printer