The experience of trust : It's content and basis

Book chapter


Barbalet, Jack. (2019). The experience of trust : It's content and basis. In In Sasaki, Masamichi (Ed.). Trust in contemporary society pp. 11-30 Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004390430_003
AuthorsBarbalet, Jack
EditorsSasaki, Masamichi
Abstract

[Extract] The idea that trust is a perennial and core concern within social relations between persons is supported in commentaries by the frequently quoted statement, first published in 1900, that ‘Without the general trust that people have in each other, society itself would disintegrate’ (Simmel 1978: 178–79). The context of this statement is a discussion of the relationship between persons and a particular social artifact, namely money. Simmel’s proposition claims that the social effectiveness of money cannot be based on ‘rational proof or personal observation’ but rather must be founded on ‘trust’. Indeed, at the time of Simmel’s writing the term ‘trust’ typically referred to a form of corporate governance, as when property is held in trust, and the relationship indicated by Simmel would have been better translated as ‘confidence’ rather than ‘trust’. Indeed, to draw on sources such as Simmel – who was writing at the turn of the twentieth century – masks the fact that social science research interest in trust is relatively recent, beginning in the late 1970s.

This last proposition is supported by the findings of a Google Scholar search for the term ‘trust’ by decade from 1900, which reveals that up to 1950 the scholarly literature on trust predominantly refers not to interpersonal relations of support and cooperation, as the term is widely understood today, but rather to corporate trusts and anti-trust legislative measures. This pattern begins to change, however, from the 1950s through to the 1970s when a different understanding of trust emerges in the scholarly literature through the publications of social psychologists interested in interpersonal trust (Rotter 1967) and pursuing such themes as trust and suspicion (Deutsch 1958), trust and surveillance (Strickland 1958), trust and the F-scale (Deutsch 1960), and so on, reflecting the concerns and dispositions of the post-World War ii period. During the following decade, 1970–80, management researchers began to turn their attention to trust. A landmark text of this literature is Zand (1972), whose focus on ‘Trust and Managerial Problem Solving’ raised problems that continue to occupy the management literature. It is only by the 1980s that trust becomes established as a theme firmly located in sociological research, encouraged by Luhmann’s (1979) essay and Barber’s (1983) short monograph, and marked by the revisions presented by Lewis and Weigert (1985) among others. From this time a number of key sociological monographs on trust began to appear, the most notable including Misztal (1996), Seligman (1997), Sztompka (1999) and Möllering (2006).

In addition to the relative recentness of sociological interest in trust is the growing intensity of that interest. Scholarly and research outputs on trust have increased at expanding rates from 1900 to the present time. This is partly a result of the increase in the numbers of disciplines that have turned to treating the problem of trust as they conceive it. Up until the 1950s economists and legal researchers were practically alone in their interest in corporate trusts, and during the 1950s and 1960s psychologists began to turn their attention to interpersonal trust, as noted above, joined by management researchers in the 1970s and researchers in both of these disciplines were joined in their respective publications on social trust by sociologists from the 1980s. But the growth in the rate of English-language publications on trust reflects not only expanding disciplinary interests but growing research activity within all of these disciplines, but especially in business studies and sociology. The figures in Table 1.1 reveal a notable growth in publications on trust from the decade beginning in 1960 and a quantum leap from 1990. The data in this table is less important than the trend it reveals.

Page range11-30
Year2019
Book titleTrust in contemporary society
PublisherBrill
Place of publicationUnited States
SeriesInternational comparative social studies
ISBN9789004390430
9789004348806
9789004452541
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004390430_003
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Publication dates
Online2019
Publication process dates
Deposited06 Dec 2021
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8x2q6/the-experience-of-trust-it-s-content-and-basis

Download files


Publisher's version
OA_Barbalet_2019_The_experience_of_trust_Its_content.pdf
License: CC BY 4.0
File access level: Open

  • 157
    total views
  • 106
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 4
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Nation and State in Max Webber : Politics as Sociology
Barbalet, Jack Michael. (2023). Nation and State in Max Webber : Politics as Sociology Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003355168
Trust in modernity : The case of Adam Smith
Barbalet, Jack Michael. (2023). Trust in modernity : The case of Adam Smith. European Journal of Social Theory. 27(1), pp. 60-77. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310231185901
Conceptualising informal institutions : Drawing on the case of guanxi
Barbalet, Jack. (2023). Conceptualising informal institutions : Drawing on the case of guanxi. British Journal of Sociology. 74(1), pp. 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12984
Race and its reformulation in Max Weber : Cultural Germanism as political imperialism
Barbalet, Jack. (2022). Race and its reformulation in Max Weber : Cultural Germanism as political imperialism. Journal of Classical Sociology. pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X221083684
The theory of guanxi and Chinese society
Barbalet, Jack. (2021). The theory of guanxi and Chinese society Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198808732.001.0001
Where does guanxi come from? Bao, shu, and renqing in Chinese connections
Barbalet, Jack. (2021). Where does guanxi come from? Bao, shu, and renqing in Chinese connections. Asian Journal of Social Science. 49(1), pp. 31-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajss.2020.11.001
Tripartite guanxi : resolving kin and non-kin discontinuities in Chinese connections
Barbalet, Jack. (2021). Tripartite guanxi : resolving kin and non-kin discontinuities in Chinese connections. Theory and Society. 50(1), pp. 151-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-020-09399-w
Max Weber and China : Imperial scholarship, its background and findings
Barbalet, Jack Michael. (2021). Max Weber and China : Imperial scholarship, its background and findings. In In Cho, Joanne Miyang (Ed.). Sino-German encounters and entanglements : Transnational politics and culture, 1890-1950 pp. 133-155 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.. https://doi.org/10.1007/97830307339196
The analysis of Chinese rural society: Fei Xiaotong revisited
Barbalet, Jack. (2021). The analysis of Chinese rural society: Fei Xiaotong revisited. Modern China: an international quarterly of history and social science. 47(4), pp. 355-382. https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700419894921
Violence and politics: Reconsidering Weber’s ‘Politics as a Vocation’
Barbalet, Jack. (2021). Violence and politics: Reconsidering Weber’s ‘Politics as a Vocation’. Sociology. 55(1), pp. 56-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519895748
Bases of social obligation : The distinction between exchange and role and its consequences
Barbalet, Jack. (2020). Bases of social obligation : The distinction between exchange and role and its consequences. Distinktion. 21(3), pp. 334-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2020.1816558
‘Honey, I shrunk the emotions’ : Late modernity and the end of emotions
Barbalet, Jack. (2019). ‘Honey, I shrunk the emotions’ : Late modernity and the end of emotions. Emotions and Society. 1(2), pp. 133-146. https://doi.org/10.1332/263168919X15662881966944
Trust: Condition of action or condition of appraisal
Barbalet, Jack. (2019). Trust: Condition of action or condition of appraisal. International Sociology. 34(1), pp. 83 - 98. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580918812268
Primitive accumulation and Chinese mirrors
Barbalet, Jack. (2019). Primitive accumulation and Chinese mirrors. Journal of Classical Sociology. 19(1), pp. 27 - 42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X18810571
Guanxi as social exchange: Emotions, power and corruption
Barbalet, Jack. (2018). Guanxi as social exchange: Emotions, power and corruption. Sociology. 52(5), pp. 934 - 949. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038517692511
Magic and Reformation Calvinism in Max Weber’s sociology
Barbalet, Jack. (2018). Magic and Reformation Calvinism in Max Weber’s sociology. European Journal of Social Theory. 21(4), pp. 470 - 487. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431017736996
Guanxi as social exchange: Emotions, power and corruption
Jack Barbalet. (2017). Guanxi as social exchange: Emotions, power and corruption. Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya. (12), pp. 30-41. https://doi.org/10.7868/S0132162517120042
Confucianism and the Chinese self: Re-examining Max Weber's China
Barbalet, Jack. In J. Barbalet (Ed.). (2017). Confucianism and the Chinese self: Re-examining Max Weber's China Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6289-6
Dyadic characteristics of guanxi and their consequences
Barbalet, Jack. (2017). Dyadic characteristics of guanxi and their consequences. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 47(3), pp. 332 - 347. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12133
The religion of China and the prospects of Chinese capitalism
Barbalet, Jack. (2016). The religion of China and the prospects of Chinese capitalism. In In A. Sica (Ed.). pp. 207 - 229 Anthem Press.
The Confucian Mix: A supplement to Weber's the religion of China
Barbalet, Jack. (2016). The Confucian Mix: A supplement to Weber's the religion of China. Revue Internationale de Philosophie. 276(2), pp. 171 - 192.
Chinese individualization, revisited
Barbalet, Jack. (2016). Chinese individualization, revisited. Journal of Sociology. 52(1), pp. 9 - 23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783315587413
Guanxi, tie strength, and network attributes
Barbalet, Jack. (2015). Guanxi, tie strength, and network attributes. American Behavioral Scientist. 59(8), pp. 1038 - 1050. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215580613
The paradox of power: Conceptions of power and the relations of reason and emotion in European and Chinese culture
Barbalet, Jack and Qi, Xiaoying. (2015). The paradox of power: Conceptions of power and the relations of reason and emotion in European and Chinese culture. In In J. G. Heaney and H. Flam (Ed.). Power and emotion pp. 51 - 64 Routledge.
Greater self, lesser self: Dimensions of self-interest in Chinese filial piety
Barbalet, Jack. (2014). Greater self, lesser self: Dimensions of self-interest in Chinese filial piety. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 44(2), pp. 186 - 205. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12037
Globalization and cosmopolitanism: Continuity and disjuncture, contemporary and historical
Barbalet, Jack. (2014). Globalization and cosmopolitanism: Continuity and disjuncture, contemporary and historical. Journal of Sociology. 50(2), pp. 199 - 212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783312448686
Weber's Daoism: A failure of orthodoxy
Barbalet, Jack. (2014). Weber's Daoism: A failure of orthodoxy. Journal of Classical Sociology. 14(3), pp. 284 - 301. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X13494132
Confucian values and East Asian capitalism: A variable Weberian trajectory
Barbalet, Jack. (2014). Confucian values and East Asian capitalism: A variable Weberian trajectory. In In B. S. Turner and O. Salemink (Ed.). Routledge handbook of religions in Asia pp. 315 - 328 Routledge.
The structure of guanxi: Resolving problems of network assurance
Barbalet, Jack. (2014). The structure of guanxi: Resolving problems of network assurance. Theory and Society. 43(1), pp. 51 - 69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-013-9211-2
Laozi’s Daodejing (6th Century BC)
Barbalet, Jack. (2014). Laozi’s Daodejing (6th Century BC). In In J. Helin, T. Hernes and D. Hjorth and R. Holt (Ed.). Oxford handbook of process philosophy and organization studies pp. 17 - 31 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199669356.013.0002
Collective fear and societal change
Barbalet, Jack and Demertzis, Nicolas. (2013). Collective fear and societal change. In In N. Demertzis (Ed.). Emotions in politics: The affect dimension in political tension pp. 167 - 185 Palgrave Macmillan.
The paradox of power : Conceptions of power and the relations of reason and emotion in European and Chinese culture
Barbalet, Jack and Qi, Xiaoying. (2013). The paradox of power : Conceptions of power and the relations of reason and emotion in European and Chinese culture. Journal of Political Power. 6(3), pp. 405-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/2158379X.2013.846554
Teaching classical sociological theory in Hong Kong SAR, China
Barbalet, Jack. (2013). Teaching classical sociological theory in Hong Kong SAR, China. Journal of Sociology. 49(4), pp. 426 - 440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783313504054
Adam Smith: Theorie der ethischen Gefühle
Barbalet, Jack. (2013). Adam Smith: Theorie der ethischen Gefühle. In In K. Senge and R. Schutzeichel (Ed.). Hauptwerke der emotionssoziologie pp. 333 - 339 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93439-6_46
Self-interest in Chinese discourse and practice: Temporal distinctions of self
Barbalet, Jack. (2013). Self-interest in Chinese discourse and practice: Temporal distinctions of self. Sociological Review. 61(4), pp. 649 - 666. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.12080
Self-interest and the theory of action
Barbalet, Jack. (2012). Self-interest and the theory of action. British Journal of Sociology. 63(3), pp. 412 - 429. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2012.01417.x
Introduction: States, consumption and managing religions
Turner, Bryan Stanley, Possamai, Adam and Barbalet, Jack Michael. (2011). Introduction: States, consumption and managing religions. In Religion and the State: A Comparative Sociology pp. 1 - 22 Anthem Press.
Public religions and the state: A comparative perspective
Barbalet, Jack Michael, Possamai, Adam and Turner, Bryan Stanley. (2011). Public religions and the state: A comparative perspective. In Religion and the State: A Comparative Sociology pp. 277 - 282 Anthem Press. https://doi.org/10.7135/UPO9780857288073.014
Chinese religion, market society and the State
Barbalet, Jack. (2011). Chinese religion, market society and the State. In In J. Barbalet, A. Possamai and B. S. Turner (Ed.). Religion and the State: A comparative sociology pp. 185 - 206 Anthem Press.
Market relations as Wuwei: Daoist concepts in analysis of China's post-1978 market economy
Barbalet, Jack. (2011). Market relations as Wuwei: Daoist concepts in analysis of China's post-1978 market economy. Asian Studies Review. 35(3), pp. 335 - 354. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2011.602045
Emotions beyond regulation: Backgrounded emotions in science and trust
Barbalet, Jack. (2011). Emotions beyond regulation: Backgrounded emotions in science and trust. Emotion Review. 3(1), pp. 36 - 43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073910380968