ABSTRACT
It is said that one of the worst problems in China today is a lack of trust between people, and between people and various entities (government agencies, firms, and even the Red Cross). We discussed this problem with our informants on various occasions, and everyone agreed that trust is a major problem in Chinese society. A society built on the presumption of untrustworthiness (POU) is very different from a society built on trust. In this chapter, we discuss the historical and cultural origins of POU in China, how it affects the legal system, people’s attitudes toward other individuals, and its ramifications on attitudes toward firms and government. We conclude in the Road Ahead section with a prognosis that this social phenomenon will persist for the foreseeable future.
