So far as personal trust is concerned, therefore, the foundations of trust in a society are adjusted according to the prospects and conditions for self-presentation and the tactical problems and dangers involved in it. This mechanism transforms societal-structured conditions into sources of trust, which means that it is not to be viewed and understood merely in terms of personal strategies, as it is by Goffman. The individual personality's system of reference is only one possible area of interest for functional analysis. On the other hand, strategic consistency is one indispensable element in the total context and the extent of the functionalization of self-presentation, the extent of psychological sensitivity, and the extent to which people are prepared to cooperate tactfully in delicate areas of self-presentation. These aspects are important variables regarding the conditions of trust in society.

XREF: Contrasts Goffman's personal-strategy view of self-presentation with Luhmann's structural-functional analysis of trust.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 188