The multileveled division of trust labour: Meso-micro linkages in the phenomenology of trust and confidence

The trust concept is inherently linked to institutional issues. Trust, according to contemporary research, may be directed at both people and institutions and the influence of institutions may affect both trust in other people and trust in other institutions. This conceptual stretching takes place at the expense of accuracy and may block our understanding of the intricacies of the multiple levels involved in trusting. This paper suggests a conceptual clarification of this issue by employing a phenomenological approach to the perspective of the trustor, differentiating the types of uncertainty involved at the intersubjective and institutional levels. I argue that confidence in institutions define the playing field of uncertainty in intersubjective relations, thus underpinning both the possibility and scope of intersubjective trust. However, once confidence in the institutional setting is brought into question, the true double-contingency of intersubjective relations is brought into play, often resulting in lowered levels of trust or outright mistrust.