C052

Betrayal Sensitivity

B06 Aesthetics, Meaning & Social Bonds
Core LayerMML-3

Version v1.3.2

Definition

The intensity and persistence of affective/cognitive response to trust violations like lying, cheating, “being played,” broken commitments, double standards.

Poles

Each HES element is a spectrum, not a category: the Low and High poles describe how it presents at its two extremes, while the Reference marks the typical, everyday middle. The poles map variation across the range — neither end is inherently better or worse.

Low Pole

Low betrayal sensitivity: trust violations feel relatively easier to process; the person lets go faster and ruminates less about betrayal.

High Pole

High sensitivity: violations feel heavy and long-lasting; fixation is strong and rebuilding trust is difficult.

Reference

Betrayal hurts, but the person can metabolize it and partially recover over time.

Measure

Emotional tail duration after a trust violation: how long the theme remains active and behaviorally influential.

Measuring Methods

Real-case tracking: persistence of intrusive thoughts, avoidance, spikes.
Diary: frequency of returning to betrayal episodes over weeks.
Observation: trust and contact shifts after violations.

Empirical Anchor

Betrayal sensitivity (Shackelford, 2001); trust violation detection (Kim et al., 2004); betrayal aversion (Bohnet et al., 2008).

Notes

Distinct from C050General Trust Baseline: one may be trusting yet highly betrayal-sensitive, or distrustful yet less sensitive.
Risks at MIN: under-detecting toxic relationships; repeated exploitation.
Risks at MAX: rumination, grudge formation, cooperation breakdown.

Citation

APA

Human Elements System. (2026). Betrayal Sensitivity (HES Passport C052, v1.3.2). hestable.com. https://hestable.com/passport/C052

BibTeX

@misc{hes_C052, author = {{Human Elements System}}, title = {{Betrayal Sensitivity}}, year = {2026}, note = {HES Passport C052, v1.3.2}, howpublished = {\url{https://hestable.com/passport/C052}} }