Das Aufheben von Ungewissheit als Kern des Vertrauens: Just do it?

Trust is considered to be a precondition for individual action, cooperative relationships and societal order. In the social sciences, researchers have tried to explain trust by identifying the 'good reasons' for trust that provide the basis for trusting. This paper argues that although trust has to refer to reason, routine and reflexivity, it has to go beyond 'good reasons'. The suspension of uncertainty should be seen as the essence of trust which gives trust its original meaning. Hence, we need to understand how actors achieve the 'as if' or the 'just do it' in trust which enables them to interact with others, have relationships and be part of society - especially under the notoriously complex, dynamic and also precarious conditions that they face today. The paper discusses research on management in China to illustrate the underlying issues empirically.