The Sociology of Trust

This chapter surveys sociological approaches to trust, defining trust as a willingness to accept vulnerability to another actor on the expectation that this vulnerability will not be exploited. It reviews two dominant traditions: generalized trust, which concerns broad confidence in unfamiliar others and is linked to socialization, self-reinforcement, and biological factors; and particularized trust, which concerns familiar actors and specific domains and is shaped by prior interaction, future dependence, and network embeddedness. The authors argue that this dichotomy is too narrow and propose a more precise framework built around three independent “radiuses” of trust: the trustor, the trustee, and the trust domain. This multidimensional model highlights neglected forms such as categorical trust and clarifies how trust varies across social settings. The chapter concludes by outlining eight priorities for future research, including better measurement, links between trust forms, affective and moral foundations, trust outcomes, digital trust, and the distinct study of trustworthiness.