Abstract

HERREROS VAZQUEZ, Francisco. Why Trust? Ways of Creating Social Trust. Rev. Mex. Sociol [online]. 2004, vol.66, n.4, pp.605-626. ISSN 2594-0651.

Social trust or widespread trust, is a key concept in social capital research. It is defined as trust in unknown persons about whom one lacks information. The article argues that it may be created as a by-product of participation in associations, in three ways; the consideration of members of the latter as a representative sample of society, the transformation of preferences in a virtuous sense and the effects of the type of social network to which a person belongs on costs, benefit and beliefs that influence the decision to trust. The article ends with a strategic model to create social trust through signals.

Keywords : social trust; social capital; particular trust; associations; set of signals.