The distinction between confidence and trust depends on our ability to distinguish between dangers and risks, whether remote or a matter of immediate concern. The distinction does not refer to questions of probability or improbability. The point is whether or not the possibility of disappointment depends on your own previous behaviour. Since 'risk' is a relatively new word, spreading from whatever sources into European languages via Italy and Spain only after the invention of the printing press, we may suppose that the possibility of making this distinction is likewise a result of social and cultural development.

XREF: The confidence/trust distinction is Luhmann's core social systems theory concept; risk as a modern cultural category also appears in Beck's risk society literature. DEFINE: Clarifies a definitional distinction between confidence and trust based on whether prior behaviour accounts for possible disappointment.

Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking…, loc. 1382