Situation-specific incentives override a person’s overall disposition in trust decisions

Evidence

It is nevertheless possible to claim on the one hand that a person is untrustworthy and on the other that he can be trusted to do what he said he would ona given occasion. This is because on this occasion he may have the right incentive. ‘Trustworthiness’ concentrates on a person’s Overdll disposition, his motivation, the extent to which he awards importance to his own honesty. Being able to trust a person to do what he said he would, on the other hand, requires us to know not only something of his disposition, but also something of the circumstances surrounding the occasion at hand. If the incentives are ‘right’, even a trustworthy person can be relied upon to be untrustworthy. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 817

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharp distinction between ‘trustworthiness’ (disposition) and being able to trust a person on a given occasion (incentives plus disposition).
• XREF: connects to: Personal trust shifts the odds in the trustor’s favour by incentivizing good behavior — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 1204; Personal disposition predicted clinging longer than leadership role — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East: Forced Migration…, 948