Stenning et al. (1986) express this notion most evocatively: "Trust permits action to unfold in situations in which one party must act before they know that the other will play their part" (p. 5). Others make similar assertions: "trust as a gamble" (Luhmann 1979, p. 24); ". . . prepayment made by him who trusts" (Luhmann 1979, p. 53); choosing to take an ambiguous path that can lead to a beneficial or harmful event (Deutsch 1962); ". . . supplying benefits that create diffuse future obligations" (Blau 1968, p. 4).

DEFINE: Synthesizes multiple scholars' definitions of trust as action taken in the face of uncertainty about the other party's future behavior.

Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Imper…, loc. 20