The Four Factors of Trust

CHAPTER 8This Is Just the Beginning

In this chapter:

• Trust will evolve (but it will always be important)
• Some of the insights surprised us
• The next horizons in trust

There is a lot we still want to learn about the nature of trust, and we'll talk about some of what we'd like to explore later in this chapter. We are reasonably confident, however, about two things. First, we expect the landscape of trust to evolve as humans and organizations evolve. Second, we are confident that the importance of trust will endure, and that the Four Factors will remain the primary drivers of trust.

Trust Will Evolve (But It Will Always Be Important)

Trust is human. From the moment we are born we start learning who and what to trust. We form near immediate bonds with our caretakers. Evolutionarily, we learn pretty fast which berry we can trust to nourish us, not poison us. To err is also human, and it's because we are human that trust will constantly evolve. Our society is built upon our ability to conduct cooperative social exchanges, which are themselves underpinned by trust, or a lack of it. This means that changing experiences will continue to shape how much and why people trust, or don't.

Because who and what we trust is constantly shifting, we'll continue to monitor and refine our understanding of the Four Factors as drivers of trust. We expect our growing sets of data and insights to deepen our own understanding of how the Four Factors operate in the world, and how they interact ...