The Affective and Intuitive Forms of Trust: The Confidence We Inspire - Trust Theory: A Socio-Cognitive and Computational Model - page 134

It is also possible to go down the opposite path - from a cold evaluation to a hot appraisal;
especially for personal, active, important goals, and in particular for felt kinds of goals like
needs, desires, etc. (Castelfranchi, 1998).
This possible translation from one form to the other is very important, because it also helps
to explain a very well known vicious and irrational circle of our emotional life (Elster, 1999).
We mean the fact that we feel our emotional activation, what we feel towards m , as a possible
evidence, confirmation of our beliefs that give rise to that emotion itself. So, for example, we
start with a belief that m can be dangerous, we predict possible harm, on such a basis we feel
some fear, and then this fear (as an appraisal of m ) 'feeds back' on the beliefs and increases
their certainty, i.e. confirms them; something like: 'Since I'm afraid, actually there is some
danger here' (which is not such a rational evidence; it is a case of self-fulfilling prophecy and
also the origin of 'motivated reasoning', (Kunda, 1990) (see Figure 5.1).
Applied to trust this means that there are two possible paths:

(i) On the one side, it is possible to formulate a judgment, and explicit evaluation ('John is
honest; John is a serious guy; John is really expert in this') and then feeling a positive trust
disposition towards John;
(ii) Feeling - for some unconscious and unclear analogy and evocation of previous affective
experiences - a positive affective disposition of safety, reliability, other's benevolence,
towards John, and on such a basis to formulate real beliefs and explicit evaluations on
him.

In fact, why do we need to spend so much time on the theory of implicit, affective appraisal?
Because there are forms of trust just based on this, not on explicit beliefs about Y . And also
because trust usually has an affective component, is some sort of weak 'emotion', or at least
a 'feeling', an affective disposition.

5.6 Trust as Feeling
Trust is also a 'feeling', something that the agent 'feels' towards another agent, something one
'inspires' to the others. It can be just confidence (similar to self-confidence) not a judgment. It
can be not arguable and based on reasons or explicit experiences; it can be just 'dispositional'
or just 'intuitive' and based on tacit knowledge and implicit learning.
At a primitive level (consider a baby) trust is something not express/ed/ible in words, not
made of explicit beliefs about Y 's competence or reliability. It is a spontaneous, non reasonable
or reasoned upon (non rational) reliance, and a feeling of confidence in a given environment
or in a person.
What is this kind or this facet of trust?
Trust as a feeling is characterized by a sensation of 'letting oneself go', of relaxing, a sort
of confident surrendering; there is an attenuation of the alert and defensive attitude (consider
the trust/confidence of a baby towards her mother).
Affective components of trust result in a felt freedom from anxiety and worried; X feels
safe or even protected; there is no suspicion or hostility towards Y , which is appraised/felt
as benevolent and reliable ('S/he will take care of '). Towards a benevolent Y ,weare

benevolent, good-willing; towards a good/skilled Y , we are not aroused, alerted, cautious,

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