Conceptual and methodological considerations in the study of trust and suspicion

Trust and suspicion appear to underlie many social interactions. Thus it is not surprising that they occupy an important role in various efforts to account for the stability or instability of a wide variety of human relationships. One of the earliest systematic formulations of these concepts appeared in this journal over a decade ago (cf. Deutsch, 1958). Yet little progress has been made since then toward a more satisfactory conceptualization of trust and suspicion. This paper is devoted to the examination of both the theoretical and the methodological considerations relevant to the empirical study of trust and suspicion.