Corruption and Trust

Abstract

Abstract Corruption and trust contrast one another. While corruption is selfish behavior manifested by the abuse of power for private purposes, trust expresses the human belief that other people are a part of their moral community and behave as they should. A number of studies have been written on the relationship between corruption and trust. This review article theoretically explains the effect of corruption on trust, takes into account other variables that may enter into this relationship, and summarizes the results to date in this area. Attention is also placed on what data individual studies used and what their weaknesses may be. The contribution of this article is that it distinguishes between perceptions and experiences of corruption and between interpersonal and political trust. Finally, this article suggests possible directions for further research.