Trust (social science)

Trust is the belief that another person will do what is expected and is built through repeated consistency. It brings with it a willingness for one party (the trustor) to become vulnerable to another party (the trustee), on the presumption that the trustee will act in ways that benefit the trustor. In addition, the trustor does not have control over the actions of the trustee; however, those actions influence the trustor's positive, neutral, or negative evaluations regarding the trustworthiness of the trustee. Scholars distinguish between generalized trust (also known as social trust), which is the extension of trust to a relatively large circle of unfamiliar others, and particularized trust, which is contingent on a specific situation or a specific relationship.

As the outcome of trust is uncertain and depends on what one chooses to believe, the trustor can only evaluate and develop expectations based on the trustee’s actions. Such expectations are formed with a view to the motivations of the trustee, dependent on their characteristics, the situation, and their interaction. The trustor’s risk perception of failure or harm to themselves stems from the uncertainty of the trustee’s behavior.

In the social sciences, the subtleties of trust are a subject of ongoing research. In sociology and psychology, the degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of belief in the honesty, fairness, or benevolence of another party. The term "confidence" is more appropriate for a belief in the competence of the other party. A failure in trust may be forgiven more easily if it is interpreted as a failure of competence rather than a lack of benevolence or honesty. In economics, trust is often conceptualized as reliability in transactions. In all cases, trust is a heuristic decision rule, allowing a person to deal with complexities that would require unrealistic effort in rational reasoning.