Fear of Rejection=Inability to Trust?

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I don't know if it is like this for anyone but...

Could a fear of rejection be a reason as to why we don't trust people that well?

Could this fear of rejection develope over the years from showing our true selfs and people not likeing it?

Eh, fear of rejection can be one aspect of not trusting people. You don't trust them with how you're feeling, because you don't want them to judge you in a negative light, or to turn you down. There's also fear of betrayal, fear of being hurt, probably more than I can even list.

I guess it could be a reason for not initially trusting someone, or not trusting them until some event or change has occured (such as them saying yes to a date, or being in a relationship with them, or whatever it may be). After that, it would have to be one of the other ones.

The cause for the fear of rejection? That too could have a lot of sources. I don't know where mine came from, I've just had it most my life. Don't really have it around guys now, since A) I have a few guy friends, and B) most guys are assholes anyways. Now it is solely for members of the opposite sex. If I end up going to a different school for graduate school (assuming I get in... >_<) then all that could change, as I'll be effectively dropped into a completely alien environment with no contacts, no friends, no nothing. Honestly, that's been on my mind a bit lately. Just a bit scary of a thought.

I don't see a reason it couldn't be developed over time though. It wouldn't be "safe" to make that assumption on an individual basis without proof, as labeling a cause without evidence would be to accept the cause as fact. Which means making yourself believe that people haven't liked you in the past. The two problems with that? 1) It may not be true, it may be a biased judgement you've made, and 2) Even if it were true, there's no guarantee that it is some kind of trend for the rest of your life. You'll meet new people every year, and as they get older they'll also change their perceptions of people. Hell, the best personal example I can give is that in high school, I was the weird loner. In college, started out that way, but after my freshman year I was the weird but cool guy. Don't ask me how that happened, I never got the memo.

I tend to carry on a bit when its nearly 5:30 in the morning and rather than trying to sleep I remind myself that if I stay up a bit longer I can go to Starbucks and pay too much for a delicious cup of coffee... where was I...

In a feeble attempt to summarize your questions,
1) Yes, it could.
2) Yes, it could.
(footnote) Could doesn't mean did. It is a possibility though.

Yeah, I try not to think about those predisposed judjments because I don't have proof that they even exist.

But I noticed that it take me awhile to trust people for nearly an unlistable list of trusting fears. That's why it take so long to warm up to someone when I know they don't have ill intent for me.

I guess the fear of rejectioned would apply to the forum because it took me a very long time to bring up the nerve to start posting stuff.

P.S: I believe I have turned nocturnal! I wake up at 4-6 pm and don't fall asleep until 6-7 am!! My body is so used to it I get hungry at night now!!

There's no need to fear opening up to people here. At the very most, if you have posted in any of the threads any information about yourself (More along the line of age, location,something that people you know would pick up on on the random off-chance that they're for some reason browsing an AS site, that sort of thing) there isn't really any way that anyone will be able to put together the you that is presented online and the you that is sitting at the computer. Some people abuse that freedom, acting like complete jerks because they're not accountable for their actions, or because when they are "punished" they can simply make a new account. For the sake of honesty, been there, done that. At the same time, it can be somewhere you freely express yourself, without the fear of being judged. That's on any website, and, except for the couple of trolls I've noted in my first, oh, feels like 8 hours here, it should be even more so here.

For a long time I posted to a blog that was effectively anonymous, as it had no link to me outside of the net. Sure, there was an e-mail address attached, but it wasn't displayed and it was a yahoo one. I would just write about whatever on it, because it would be somewhat preserved and available anywhere, and because of the chance that someone might randomly read it. And if they did read it, who cares! They don't know who I am, so if they react negatively I can simply tell them that their opinion doesn't matter and move on. But there's also the chance that someone would react positively, constructively.

That can happen in your daily life too, but its a lot easier here.

And as for being nocturnal, uh, I just don't sleep. I think I'm going back to my 3-4 hours a night sleep pattern where I barely eat and barely sleep yet somehow keep going like it isn't a big deal.

Fear of rejection isn't what makes me distrust people, but it's what makes not want to talk to people.

For me, distrust stems from the fact that I feel the vast majority of people don't care whether they hurt you or not.

My experiences with my first girlfriend sapped most of my ability to trust people (NTs at least).

Tim

I got bullied at school. I think that did it. Now I tend to view people as basically hostile and unfriendly, even though the rational side of me says that's not usually true.

Every time I tried to do anything with friends in high school and even college, people are always "I got my friends already, I don't need you. You go find you're own friends." It hurts bad and I'm afraid to even make a phone call to somebody because I've NEVER had a successful phone call with a friend. They ALWAYS turn me down on the phone or act like they don't have time to talk.