Trust Attributes, Methods, and Uses

In the literature, several different definitions of trust and models have been presented to aid researchers as they apply the concepts of trust within their systems. The multiplicity of trust definitions creates a high level of ambiguity. This paper takes a step away from models of trust and attempts to define and categorize several attributes, methods of discovery, and methods of evaluation that can be used to describe and discuss trust and trust models. This research leads to a vocabulary that enables researchers to communicate and compare investigations on trust more easily. To show how the terminology can be useful for describing models and systems that use trust, five case studies are presented. Each case study describes research using the new terminology presented in this paper.