If one also takes this possibility into consideration then it becomes clear how complex and richly varied the social conditions for the formation of trust are. In part they operate through the structures of the system which invests trust; in part they affect it from outside. In the first case it is principally a question of social conditions for the expression of emotion or successful self-presentation – a social climate which honours personal bonds such as love or faithfulness, and does not expose them to ridicule, as in the figure of the cuckolded husband; which institutionalizes tact, and knows enough escape routes for self-preservation in difficult situations. In this way system structures for trust are reinforced. In the second case, due to the provisions made in their environment, system structures themselves are relieved of the burden of absorbing the uncertainty resulting from this engagement. This occurs in the case of system trust in so far as their possibilities of choice are narrowed down or interpreted away, and trust is confirmed in the short term during the course of interaction. Or it may be that the breach of trust is controlled by sufficiently tight sanctions to reduce the truster's risk.

DEFINE: Distinguishes trust reinforced from inside system structures (via emotional expression, self-presentation, tact) versus relieved from outside via environment provisions like narrowed choices and sanctions.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 300