Trust is a degree of expected probability, not a separate decision layered onto risk.

Evidence

Trust is not itself a risk or a gamble. It is, of course, risky to put myself in a position to be harmed or benefited by another. However, I do not calculate the risk and then additionally decide to trust you; my estimation of the risk is merely my degree of trust in you. Again, I do not typically choose to trust and therefore act; rather, I do trust and therefore choose to act. In some circumstances I might even go so far as to risk cooperation with someone I genuinely distrust if that is the best option open to me. The degree of trust I have in you just is my expected probability of the dependency working out well. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 550

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharpens the conceptual definition of trust as an expected probability rather than a choice, cutting directly to the epistemology of trust.
• XREF: Directly works Luhmann’s account (trust as dealing with risk inherent in complexity) into the argument, central to the reader’s stated integration goal.