The Road Less Travelled

Friday, March 24, 2006

Trust

Ok going further on the whole ‘trust’ issue. I kept being asked to define trust, so here goes.
Trust according to wikipedia.

Trust in sociology is a relationship between people, or between people and social institutions such as a corporation or government. It is the belief by one person that anothers motivations towards them are benevolent and "honest". In social psychology this notion of trust is being increasingly adopted to predict acceptance of measures not only taken by other people but also institutions (e.g. the government agencies) or even technological appliances.
Much work has been done on the notion of trust and of its social implications. The work of Barbara Misztal attempts to combine all notions of trust together. She points out that there are three basic things that trust does in the lives of people. It makes social life predictable, it creates a sense of community, and it makes it easier for people to work together.
Trust can be said to be the basis of all social institutions. It is also integral to the idea of social influence, as it is easier to influence or persuade someone who is trusting.
Trust can be contrasted with Power (sociology). Though they intuitively might seem like opposite concepts, they sometimes overlap. For example, Stockholm syndrome and in charismatic authority.
Trust is also studied by economists, for example in the context of the Trust game.

However this was another way someone summed it up. When the trust question is asked it constitutes all these factors.

1. You trust them to look after the dearest things to you, eg ask them to look after your family or something.  You can give them all your belongings, wealth etc and know they will not spend it or run off with it. 
2.  When you know you can rely on them to do something for you if you ask them (won’t go back on their word).
3. If you ask them to keep a secret they will.


So JM, now what’s your answer?

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