The Multidimensionality of Trust: Applications in Collaborative Natural Resource Management

Abstract

Despite the long-recognized importance of trust in the natural resources management literature, few have drawn upon the breadth of other disciplines' investigations of trust to inform their work. This article represents an effort to break down the concept of trust into its component parts in an attempt to reorganize trust theory in a robust and practical way for collaborative natural resource management. We describe four forms of trust relevant to collaborative (and other forms of) natural resource management: dispositional trust, rational trust, affinitive trust, and procedural trust. By delineating different forms of trust, their antecedents, and their potential consequences for collaborative natural resource management, we aim to provide a useful and consistent lexicon and framework for use by researchers and practitioners in the human dimensions of natural resource management.