The Moral Foundations of Trust

Abstract

This paper summarizes my book from Cambridge University Press (2002) with the same title.

Trust is a multifacted concept. Mostly it is conceived as a rational response to trustworthy behavior by others. I offer an argument and evidence that there is another and more important variant of trust, moralistic (generalized) trust. I show that moralistic trust is faith in people we don't know and that it does not depend upon our life experiences. It is this type of trust that binds us to others. Trusting people are more likely to volunteer their time, to give to charity, to be tolerant of others, and to support policies that both promote economic growth (open markets) and that provide support for the less fortunate. Countries with more trusters have better functioning government, more redistributive policies, more open markets, and less corruption. What distinguishes countries that are trusting from those that are not is the level of economic equality.

Keywords: trust, social capital, inequality, government, civic engagement