Trust: Introduction and trending topics

This chapter provides a brief review of the conceptual and empirical development of the concept of trust. In doing so, it briefly discusses some historical writings of trust, along with some clear trends toward an integrative, interdisciplinary science of trust. Trust and social dilemmas are close partners, in that trust is often a necessary but not a sufficient condition for establishing and maintaining cooperation in social dilemmas. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of the book, providing a brief discussion of the sections dealing with (a) the biology and development of trust; (b) trust in dyads, groups, and organizations; and (c) trust in different cultures.