WCP 2025

This presentation introduces the concept of epistemic trust—the fundamental human capacity enabling us to learn from others who are trustworthy and collectively establish shared beliefs and ideas, which we recognize as ‘culture’. The talk will highlight emerging evidence underscoring the critical role of epistemic trust in social learning and examine research demonstrating its vulnerability to adversity, particularly during childhood. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the extensive developmental and adult-life consequences resulting from disruptions in epistemic trust. Further, exploring the link between epistemic trust and mental disorders sheds light on one of the key mechanisms mediating trauma's lasting impact, notably in the onset of mental health difficulties and impairments in personality functioning. We will discuss therapeutic approaches aimed at addressing epistemic mistrust and epistemic hypervigilance, alongside recent findings on how mistrust disrupts human social communication systems.