The Routledge Companion to Trust

17Trust and Distrust

Their interplay with forgiveness in organizations

Robert J. Bies, Laurie J. Barclay, Maria Francisca Saldanha, Adam A. Kay and Thomas M. Tripp

Introduction

There’s a world of difference … a night and day kind of difference between forgiveness and trust. Forgiveness is about the past … what has happened. Trust is about the future. What the relationship will be like from here on out.

(Pastor Jeff Conrad)

Decades of research have established the vital importance of trust, not only to interpersonal relationships but also to any well-functioning society at large. Trust facilitates cooperation (Barnard, 1938) and enhances the stability of social institutions and markets (Williamson, 1975; Zucker, 1986). As stabilizing a force ...