Background societal norms determine whether wariness or openness is the correct stance

Evidence

In a society in which the background standards are those of the con artist, stances toward others will generally be defensive, and wariness might block most cooperative dealings, as in contexts of pervasive distrust and untrustworthiness. In a much more cooperative society, which is likely to be either a very close society or one with relatively good institutional structures to protect various dealings, the typically correct stance will be one of openness rather than wariness. Science has traditionally seemed to be such a society. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 854

Categorization

• XREF: Reinforces the blindness-novel integration: Saramago’s white blindness destoys the ‘cooperative society’ substrate, forcing wariness that blocks cooperation—exactly Hardin’s causal chain. — connects to: Pluralistic ignorance sustains norms even after private attitudes have shifted — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 7327; Social norms make people present stable identities that others can trust; Moral trust requires temporally stable social contexts to operate (+1 more)
• DEFINE: Defines trustworthiness as an environment-level property: the correct stance is a function of background norms plus institutional structures.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 854

Broader Connections

• Pluralistic ignorance sustains norms even after private attitudes have shifted #corroborates (0.82) — , The Rod and the Child, 7327
• Social norms make people present stable identities that others can trust #expands (0.80)
• Moral trust requires temporally stable social contexts to operate #qualifies (0.72)