The Trust Foundation Understanding trust issues in the digital era.

[This is another highlight from our Knowledge@Wharton series focusing on trust issues.]

"...trust harmed by untrustworthy behavior can be effectively restored when individuals observe a consistent series of trustworthy actions...making a promise to change behavior can help speed up the trust recovery process."

"The extent to which I do or do not trust you is a function not only of how trusting a person I am and what I know about you, but also a function of irrelevant events that have influenced my emotional state. For example, if I hit a parked car, argued with my spouse, learned that I have to pay a large repair bill (or won an award, had a paper accepted, or saw my stock account grow) beforehand, I would trust you less (or more). The main idea...is that emotions which are irrelevant to the judgment task nevertheless influence trust judgments in predictable ways."