It is sometimes supposed, on the contrary, that promising is typically used to regulate relations with strangers. Baier (1986, 246) says that exchange of promises typically requires “one to rely on strangers over a period of time.” Unless my worldly experience is extraordinary, this view is prima facie false. Promises to genuine strangers are rare, not least perhaps because a stranger would not trust one’s promise (see further Good 1988). … When we have to rely on strangers in important matters, we commonly prefer to bind them through contracts under law.

XREF: Contradicts Baier's view (1986, 246) that promising regulates relations with strangers; the author explicitly engages her claim.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 910