ABSTRACT
Affect is clearly implied by the quality of a relationship, but this chapter argues that this is a limited and limiting view of the role affect may play in trust, and moreover one that does not unambiguously speak to the role of affect but rather puts the quality of the relationship and not affect centre-stage. Despite the fact that affect-based trust is in a sense a "minority perspective" in trust research, there is enough work on affect-based trust to take stock of its contribution to the trust literature. "Affect-based trust" and cognition-based trust may have unique antecedents and consequences, and "affect-based trust" may be the stronger, more proximal influence on outcomes, where cognition-based trust may be seen as a basis of "affect-based trust". The attention to the role of affect in trust is consistent with a larger movement towards the study of affect to complement a dominant focus on cognitive perspectives in research in organizational behaviour.
