Trust in Intercultural Encounters

ABSTRACT

In today's global world, trust in intercultural encounters plays an important key

role for success in business and personal relationships. In this study, the

argument is that trust in intercultural context has several interpretations that are

faced with many cultural factors which should be taken into account when

interacting with others from different cultures.

First, the definitions and concepts of trust in general are explained. Then, two

theories are used for the determination of trust in intercultural context. The first

explanation by Schödel (2005) declared trust linked with the model of the

cultural dimensions according to Hofstede (1991). The second model by

Fukuyama (1995) divides societies into low-trust-societies and high-trustsocieties.

After giving an insight into the current status of research on trust, the threephases-

model of Petermann (1996) describes how trust can be built in

intercultural encounters.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1

2 Concept of Trust ............................................................................................ 4

2.1 Function of Trust ........................................................................................ 4

2.2 Definition of Trust ....................................................................................... 5

2.3 Approaches of Trust ................................................................................... 6

2.4 Processes of Trust ................................................................................... 10

3 Trust in Intercultural Encounters .................................................................. 15

3.1 Influences of National Culture on Trust .................................................... 17

3.2 Social Trust Skills In An Intercultural Comparison ................................... 25

4 Trust Building ............................................................................................... 27