Trust: towards conceptual clarification

Trust is universally regarded as a ‘good thing’ at both the interpersonal level and as a means of bringing stability to social institutions and markets. However, the concept is often treated in a homogeneous and unhelpful way, and academic reflection is spread across many disciplines that frequently fail to interconnect. This article pulls together the key perspectives and ideas from these different academic traditions. It outlines the main components of trust, and goes on to identify three different types of trust, each of which is associated with a different type of trusting. It concludes that it is now time to move beyond conceptual clarification to more empirical application.