ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the ways in which distrust has been conceptualized and studied – both as a subset of trust and as a distinct phenomenon. Distrust is generally defined in terms of negative expectations towards people's intentions or behaviours. Distrust has been conceptualized in the literature as equivalent to low trust and, alternatively, as distinct from trust. Building on Mayer, et al. most trust research has approached the relationship between trustworthiness and trust as linear, and most empirical studies have found significant linear relations consistent with the distrust-as-low-trust conception. One interesting area of focus is the role of avoidance of interaction, and negative attributions of motives and value incongruence as both determinants and effects of distrust. The attribution of negative motives or incongruent values can be a determinant of distrust when the motives or values in question are fundamental ones, and thus are pervasively relevant.
