Straining towards trust: some constraints essay on studying trust in organizations

Trust is of great interest in organizational research and the social sciences. It is argued here that any theory of trust ought to treat a set of observed empirical regularities as constraints. A constraint on a theory is either an assumption made in constructing the theory (e.g., we assume people have a tendency to be fair in their dealings with others) or an explanandum (e.g., we must explain the tendency people have to be fair in their dealings with others) for which the theory must account. These constraints are best thought of in an evolutionary framework, with intellectual links to game theory, evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology. In particular, (1) people are disposed towards fairness and reciprocity, they have (2) cognitive modules and (3) emotional dispositions which safeguard them against cheating and trust violation. Given these three constraints, any theory should consider the (4) evidence for cultural constraints on trust, trusting behavior and decisions. These constraints together point us towards an integrated ecology of trust where culture, individual dispositions and cognition jointly influence observed trusting behavior. Some work, particularly Gintis et al. (2002) on altruism, strong reciprocity and cooperation, suggests such an approach to studying trust. The purpose of this essay is to identify this work, organize it, and argue for its bearing on the study of trust and organizations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.