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22 - On Trust

Self-Verification, Trust, and Social Capital Mobilization

from IV - New Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2021

By
Sandra S. Smith  and
Jasmine M. Sanders
Edited by
Mario L. Small ,
Brea L. Perry ,
Bernice Pescosolido  and
Edward B. Smith
Mario L. Small
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Brea L. Perry
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
Bernice Pescosolido
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
Edward B. Smith
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
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Summary

A growing body of research has examined the role that trust plays in the mobilization of social capital for instrumental and emotional aid. Few have theorized, however, how individuals’ own notions of self, and their need for self-confirmation, shape the process by which they de-cide who to help, when, under what circumstances, and why. In this paper, we consider the role that self-verification plays in the development of trust that facilitates social capital mobiliza-tion for emotional and instrumental aid, with specific attention to job-matching assistance. We draw from the work of social psychologists to suggest that we might better understand the cir-cumstances under which people provide instrumental and emotional aid by considering the extent to which their self-views, positive or negative, are confirmed by others around them. Self-verification should feed trust that produces a greater willingness to offer both emotional and instrumental aid. We illustrate this point with a discussion of one empirical case.

Keywords

self-verificationtrustsocial capital mobilizationjob-matching assistanceemotional and in-strumental aidsocial identity
Type
Chapter
Information
Personal Networks
Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis
 , pp. 596 - 611
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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