SEPT. 27, 2004

ETHICS
Trust: Research examines how it works, when it fails

CBS News' controversial report on President Bush's National Guard duty begs the question, "Who can you trust?": Politicians? The president? The news media? Americans' trust in leaders of government, business, media and religion is shaky, according to polls. In response to recent scandals and revelations, an explosion of research is targeting trust because of its essential role in America's social fabric. Trust is a quality that cuts across disciplines and professions, including government, psychology, bioethics, anthropology, economics and religion. It even applies in information sciences, where computers need systems that effectively behave like humans, acting in concert to get things done. Trust research is being developed at a time when major social, political, moral and economic institutions and groups, from the Roman Catholic Church to Enron to election campaigns, invite distrust because of visible failures. Researchers say the fear of getting caught and the ability to respond effectively if one is victimized - confidence in a rule of law - promotes trust.

Why it Matters
Trust is a critical element in transactions and relationships, whether they involve business, government, friendship or faith. The presidential campaign and other election contests emphasize this. Researchers say that levels of trust have lasting repercussions on how smoothly and successfully a society functions.

Questions for reporters
• Check with local business schools and experts in the social sciences for their perspectives on research on trust.
• The effects of economic, political and clerical wrongdoing have acutely affected some communities and also rippled more widely, affecting investments and livelihoods. In what ways is public trust an issue in your community?
• Cross-cultural studies of trust are yielding findings about ethnic tensions and relationships between majority and minority demographic groups. Minorities generally say they are less trusting. Hatred is easy to generate against socially isolated groups. How does this affect your community?

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National sources

• Jean Ensminger is an anthropologist at the California Institute of Technology and principal investigator on a cross-cultural study of social and economic behavior in small groups. Her research looks at the role of trust and cooperation in economic behavior. She says there is a "huge" amount of research going on about trust. Her findings suggest that people are must trustworthy in societies where they will likely be caught if they do something wrong. Hence, the United States and other countries where the rule of law is strongly established generally enjoy relatively high levels of trust. Contact 626-395-4541, jensming@hss.caltech.edu.
• Michael Josephson is an ethics consultant and founder of the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics and the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, which promotes character education for youth. Trustworthiness is one of the six "pillars of character" taught to youth in the program. He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader on ethics and leadership issues. Contact 310-846-4800, radio@jiethics.org.
• Russell Hardin is a professor of politics at New York University and the author of Trust and Trustworthiness (Russell Sage Foundation, 2002). Contact 212-998-8503, russell.hardin@nyu.edu.
• Paul Light is founding director of the Center for Public Service at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and an expert on public institutions and trust in them. He testified Aug. 3 about implementing reforms in government recommended by the 9/11 Commission. Contact 202-797-6047, plight@brookings.edu. Edward Glaeser is an economist at Harvard University who has researched trust and trustworthiness in groups. In his 2004 paper "The Political Economy of Hatred," he writes that hatred is likely to spread against groups that are politically relevant but socially isolated. He says that wealthier and better-educated people tend to be more trusting and that trust may be a function of the ability to punish someone who betrays you. Contact 617-495-0575 or 617-496-2150, eglaeser@harvard.edu.
• Karen S. Cook is a sociologist at Stanford University with a research interest in trust in social relations. She edited Trust in Society (Russell Sage Foundation, 2001) and was a co-editor of Social Capital: Theory and Research (Aldine de Gruyter, 2001). Contact 650-723-1194, kcook@leland.stanford.edu.
• The New York-based Russell Sage Foundation, which supports research in the social sciences, has supported a cross-disciplinary trust initiative since 1995. The foundation has funded researchers across the world investigating trust. The foundation media contact is David Haproff, 212-750-6037.

Background

• The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland includes some essays about trust and distrust in science and engineering.
• The findings of Robert Putnam about declining civic involvement have influenced recent research. His Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Simon & Schuster, 2000) is his influential work about the degradation of "social capital" - social networks and the participatory behavior they foster - in contemporary America. More recently he co-wrote Better Together: Restoring the American Community (Simon & Schuster, 2003). Putnam teaches public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He founded the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, a program that brings together leading practitioners and thinkers to develop ideas for fortifying civic connectedness. Contact 617-495-0539.
• An August 2004 GfK poll of Americans and citizens of 19 other countries showed that people trust doctors and teachers the most, and politicians the least.
• The Public Management Institute at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, has compiled a list of government surveys of trust.
• PollingReport.com posts recent polls related to confidence and trust in institutions and trust and values.