The normative content of institutional trust

Abstract

The paper asks about trust when it unfolds between those who do not know each other and develop in standardized ties mediated by institutions, proposing that in such hypotheses the trusting party counts on the other to continue cooperating, subject to certain basic rules of interaction: the rule of no harm, according to which the other will refrain from behaviors that interfere with each other's freedom of action or cause harm, and the rule that obliges to act in accordance with the role and that bases the expectation that the other will satisfy those courses of action that have their source in institutions. In the case of interactions sustained over time, there is also the rule of reciprocity, according to which one person will act in the following interactions in a way that is adjusted and coherent with the previous behavior of the other.