Doubt and suspicion, which are increasing day by day in society, damage individuals' sense of trust and weaken social ties. Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı, a faculty member of the Department of Sociology, who evaluated the main causes and consequences of this phenomenon, emphasized that a decrease in trust in a society leads to an increase in skeptical and anxious individuals. Pointing to the upbringing style by parents, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said, “People raised by being taught in their childhood years that life is full of dangers forget to trust people and turn into skeptical and suspicious individuals.”
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı: “The state of doubt and suspicion arising from distrust harms social relations such as neighborhood and friendship, arouses fear and anger in individuals, and prevents the realization of social cooperation, peace, and welfare.”
Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı evaluated the phenomenon of increasing skepticism in society.
Closely related to distrust…
Emphasizing that events such as doubt and suspicion observed in social life are closely related to the phenomenon of distrust, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said, “A decrease in trust in a society leads to an increase in skeptical and anxious individuals. Everyone is perceived as a potential danger to others. Another reason effective in the widespread nature of this situation is moving away from social values. Lack of values, multiplication of deviant behaviors lead to an increase in situations such as doubt and suspicion. Another known reason among the causes of this situation is the upbringing style by parents. People raised by being taught in their childhood years that life is full of dangers forget to trust people and turn into skeptical and suspicious individuals.”
Those with paranoid personality disorder suspect everyone
On the other hand, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı stated that this situation also has a very important psychological dimension, saying, “Some personality structures lay the groundwork for this situation. Especially individuals defined as having paranoid personality disorder in the literature suspect everyone around them without sufficient evidence and do not trust them in any way.”
Some media content also fuels fear
Noting that the feeling of trust can be observed to decrease and increase among people at certain periods, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı continued:
“In this process, communication technologies with a dual nature are also effective. In the modern era, mass media is known to play a decisive role in individuals' thoughts and behaviors in the social sphere. The production of a high amount of violence, abuse, robbery, and fraud content in the media, especially in news and news programs, fuels individuals' fears and causes feelings of doubt and anxiety to surface.
Moreover, news content about murders and accidents broadcast on television channels to get higher ratings, and violent scenes in TV series not only increase the state of doubt and suspicion among individuals within the country but also cause tourists who want to come to Turkey from different countries to feel anxious, and students and their parents who want to choose Turkish universities for education to reconsider their decisions. In other words, this situation also negatively affects the country's image.”
Unconscious use of social media is also effective
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı stated that the unconscious use of social media also causes the widespread nature of doubt and suspicion in society, saying, “Especially sharing unfounded information on social media to be read more and increase followers can be a trigger for this situation. This situation, in turn, eliminates the credibility of social media.”
Effects on social ties
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı stated that with the widespread nature of doubt and suspicion in society, people's trust in each other and institutions decreases, and said, "Especially doubt and suspicion, which become dominant in relationships, after a while engulf the entire being of society, damaging social values and the spiritual structure of society. In social life, individuals have difficulty forming close relationships and lack a sense of trust because they question every situation and individual they encounter. This situation is particularly more evident in the vital existence areas of individuals. Indeed, the state of doubt and suspicion arising from distrust harms social relations such as neighborhood and friendship, arouses fear and anger in individuals, and prevents the realization of social cooperation, peace, and welfare.”
Values education is very important and necessary
Evaluating the effects of increasing doubt and suspicion, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı concluded his words as follows:
“The feeling of trust, which is an inseparable part of social capital, is a very important resource at the foundation of social relations. In societies with a high level of social trust, economic development occurs. Democratic processes work more smoothly, and individuals experience a higher level of happiness and satisfaction. Distrust among the members and institutions of society, however, leads to the deterioration of the holistic structure. Social values have a very important place in ensuring trust in social life. This is because social values are unifying factors that ensure the creation of an environment of harmony and trust among individuals in society, preventing polarization. Many values such as honesty, openness, consistency, loyalty, closeness, commitment, predictability constitute an ethical basis for establishing trust-building relationships in society. In this sense, values education is very important and necessary. On the other hand, the establishment of justice is one of the indispensable elements of the process of raising the level of trust in society.”