Organizations require the truster to retain a modicum of distrust

Evidence

A system-rational increase in the effectiveness of trust will depend on all the aspects of trust formation which we have treated in the course of our inquiry and cannot catalogue once again here. Nevertheless, perhaps the decisive question remains open as to whether and how it is possible for trust and distrust to be co-ordinated through the creation of systems, and so increased in tandem. For reasons of general systems theory which cannot be adequately developed here, two closely connected processes ought to be decisive. These are the differentiation of the system from its environment, i.e. the drawing of boundaries, and the inner differentiation of the system, i.e. the functional specification of its subsystems and mechanisms. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 313 (#expands, via linked claim)

Once again these analyses illuminate in the clearest possible way what constitutes the background to all trust – the problem of complexity. By means of trust, the truster unburdens himself of complexity which he cannot sustain. Anyone who wishes to abuse his trust must take this complexity upon himself. He will have to burden himself with complex demands on behaviour, to ensure the most wide-ranging command of the relevant information and complete control of the information available to the truster, with the result that he himself will be in danger of collapsing under the pressure of complexity. Among the most important strategies for reducing fraud, therefore, is a time-limit on breach of trust, and also, if possible, on contact with the victim of the fraud. Adulterous relationships, in which this is not possible, require high expectations of behaviour, as is well known, and are seldom the result of balanced consideration. In all long-term relationships justifying trust is easier, even if this does not protect the truster from the exceptional circumstances of a well-secured individual, judiciously planted. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 245 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Overburdened superiors must confer unarticulated personal trust that underlings exploit for influence; Systems that need distrust must also neutralize it to survive.; Being distrusted relieves a person of moral obligation and breeds reciprocal distrust. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 272 (+12 more)

Related

• Some systems must invest trust externally, while programmed roles reduce internal trust needs. (similarity 0.86)
• Trust and law evolved from a common root into differentiated mechanisms (similarity 0.85)
• Systems that need distrust must also neutralize it to survive. (similarity 0.84)
• Trust and distrust can increase together within differentiated systems. (similarity 0.84)
• Being distrusted relieves a person of moral obligation and breeds reciprocal distrust. (similarity 0.84)
• Trust reduces the truster’s complexity while transferring that burden onto the trusted (similarity 0.84)
• Reducing distrust is different from generating trust (similarity 0.83)
• Trust expands a system’s complexity potential and buys it time (similarity 0.83)
• Member selection raises internal trust while formalizing specific distrust as supervisory duty. (similarity 0.83)
• Differentiated societies need more trust to reduce their greater complexity (similarity 0.82)
• Trust requires freedom be transferred from uncontrollable potency to institutionalized personal responsibility. (similarity 0.82)
• Trust reduces social complexity by replacing missing information with guaranteed security (similarity 0.82)
• Distrust functions as an equivalent alternative to trust (similarity 0.82)
• Social complexity forces the shift from personal to impersonal, system-governed trust. (similarity 0.82)
• Organizations require actors to retain a modicum of the opposite stance (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Trust and distrust can increase together within differentiated systems. #expands (0.80) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 313
• Trust and distrust can be institutionally interlocked without undermining each other #expands (0.75)
• Trust reduces the truster’s complexity while transferring that burden onto the trusted #complicates (0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 245
• Distrust is a self-reinforcing, self-fulfilling social dynamic. #expands (0.70)
• Distrust functions as an equivalent alternative to trust #complicates (0.60) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 262