Risk, communication and trust: Towards an emotional understanding of trust

Current discussions on public trust, as well as on risk communication, have a restricted rationalistic bias in which the cognitive-reflexive aspect of trust is emphasized at the expense of its emotional aspect. This article contributes to a substantive theory of trust by exploring its emotional char...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPublic understanding of science (Bristol, England) Vol. 23; no. 6; pp. 703 - 717
Main Authors Engdahl, Emma, Lidskog, Rolf
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.08.2014
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Cognition & reasoning
Communication
emotion
Emotions
History of medicine and histology
Humans
public understanding of science
Risk
Risk assessment
risk communication
science-citizen relation
science-citizen relations
Social psychology
Sociologi
Sociology
Trust
trust
emotions
science–citizen relations
risk communication
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Summary:Current discussions on public trust, as well as on risk communication, have a restricted rationalistic bias in which the cognitive-reflexive aspect of trust is emphasized at the expense of its emotional aspect. This article contributes to a substantive theory of trust by exploring its emotional character. Drawing on recent discussions in science and technology studies, social psychology, and general social theory, it argues that trust is a modality of action that is relational, emotional, asymmetrical, and anticipatory. Hence, trust does not develop through information and the uptake of knowledge but through emotional involvement and sense-making. The implications of this conception of trust for public understandings of science and for risk communication are discussed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 23
ISSN:0963-6625
1361-6609
1361-6609
DOI:10.1177/0963662512460953