Nevertheless, not every message threatens or disrupts trust. The trusted person enjoys a certain credit which allows even unfavourable experiences to be effectively reinterpreted or absorbed. As we shall argue, particularly in differentiating between trust and distrust (Chapter 10), control is exercised by means of thresholds which may not be crossed without the withdrawal of trust.

DEFINE: Describes the mechanism by which trust acts as a resource allowing negative experiences to be absorbed or re-framed rather than immediately destroying the relationship.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 163