Pécher par excès de confiance ?. Étude de cas d’une coopérative d’activité et d’emploi

If the benefits of trust within collaborative relationships are subject of numerous studies, few scholars focus on its undesirable side effects. Our case study attempts to fill this gap. It questions the institutionalisation process of trust, specifically the resulting mechanisms of trust self-reproduction. From semi-structured interviews and archives analysis, we describe the history of a business and employment cooperative, and highlight the construction process of overtrust. The context, in which the relationship emerges, is here characterised by the dominance of informal settings and strong ties between actors. The situation leads to cognitive biases affecting the institutionalisation process of trust and resulting in an overtrust.