7.5 Value profile: trust

Introduction

Trust is one of five values identified by the College of Business Administration at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez for inclusion in its Statement of Values. These values were identified in a workshop held in 2005. There participants explored values in different codes of ethics, identified the values embodied in the rules they drafted to guide daily conduct, and carried out selection and prioritization activities to refine and reduce a large list of candidate values to five. A committee of stakeholders (administration, faculty, staff, and students) studied the values and wrote out short descriptions of each. Finally, the Statement of Values and its value profiles have been subjected to different challenges. Stakeholders have translated the SOV into Spanish, tested it for comprehensiveness using case studies, and used test results in classes to hone in on conceptual ambiguities. The SOV provides the following formulation of trust:

Recognize that trust solidifies communities by creating an environment where each can expect ethically justifiable behavior from all others. While trust is tolerant of and even thrives in an environment of diversity, it also must operate within the parameters set by established personal and community standards.

This conception of trust as the expectation of moral behavior from others comes largely from Robert Solomon. This module will build on Solomon’s treatment by integrating it with that of Margaret Urban-Walker in her book, Moral Repair: Reconstructing Moral Relations after Wrongdoing . Trust is absolutely essential in constructing moral transactions and building a civilized life. But wrongdoing can disrupt--even destroy--social transactions, leaving civil ruin in its wake. As Urban-Walker explores the different ways to carry out moral repair, the restoration of trust emerges as an essential component. For example, she lists six tasks as constitutive of moral repair. Trust plays an essential role in the following two (MR 28):

• "Moral repair is served by replenishing or creating trust among individuals in recognition of shared moral standards and in their responsiveness to those standards and support of the practices that express and support them."
• "Moral repair is served by igniting or nourishing hope that moral understandings and those who are responsible for supporting them are worthy of trust."