One can invest only in reputation, never directly in trustworthiness

Evidence

In general, it seems that, in the end, all that one can invest in is reputation, which is not necessarily correlated with trustworthiness. The only way to actually affect trustworthiness is by changing one’s incentives—for example, by entering into long-term ongoing relationships with those whose trust one would like to have. Hence trustworthiness is not a commodity, even though perceived trustworthiness (that is, reputation) is. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 406

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• DEFINE: Precisely distinguishes perceived trustworthiness (reputation) from actual trustworthiness as different investable goods.

Related

• Only incentives, not investment, can genuinely change trustworthiness. (similarity 0.89)
• Acting on mistaken assumptions about reputation can still yield trust (similarity 0.86)
• A trustworthy reputation can be exploited because it is imperfectly known (similarity 0.85)
• Assessing another’s trustworthiness requires direct or reputational knowledge (similarity 0.85)
• Trustworthiness needs no moral groundings to sustain trust (similarity 0.83)
• Reputation functions as a commodity that assures others one will honor commitments (similarity 0.83)
• Reputation means changing beliefs, not merely incentive-compatible behavior (similarity 0.83)
• Reputation-building is a deliberate investment of foregone gains (similarity 0.83)
• Trustworthiness begets trust via reputation and repeated dealings (similarity 0.83)
• Reputation signals trust but experience substitutes for it (similarity 0.83)
• Theories of trust as a good really describe trustworthiness, not trust (similarity 0.83)
• Reputation for honesty is built through costly investment against short-term interests (similarity 0.82)
• Reputation alone does not substitute for direct experience in inter-firm trust. (similarity 0.81)
• Much academic literature on trust is actually about trustworthiness (similarity 0.81)
• Moralized accounts of trust actually moralize trustworthiness (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• A trustworthy reputation can be exploited because it is imperfectly known #qualifies (0.78) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 821