Abstract
In this chapter, I discuss core theoretical disputes, including: What is trust? Traditionally it is thought of in terms of interpersonal relations, but can it expand beyond that? Does it always reflect strategy, or what Hardin calls a three part relationship X trusts Y to do Z? Or is there another form of trust, what I call “moralistic” trust, where the logic is simply “X trusts”? What are differences among the various types of trust: strategic and moralistic, generalized and particularized, interpersonal and institutional? How do we measure trust? How is an individual’s trust shaped? Who, then, do they trust? Is trust something that can be molded over time, or does it remain relatively stable? And lastly, are institutional trust and generalized trust a part of the same syndrome; what determines institutional trust?
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Notes
- 1.
In other words, though both forms of trust have decreased from the early 1960s to the early 2010s, the passage of this time period accounts for 77 % of the variance in generalized trust but only 42 % of the variance in trust in government.
- 2.
Thus, inequality accounts for 68 % of the variance in generalized trust during this time period.
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Uslaner, E.M. (2016). Who Do You Trust?. In: Shockley, E., Neal, T., PytlikZillig, L., Bornstein, B. (eds) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Trust. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22261-5_4
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