Abstract

After arguing about the crucial importance of trust for Agents and MAS, we provide a definition of trust both as a mental state and as a social attitude and relation. We present the mental ingredients of trust: its specific beliefs and goals, with special attention to evaluations and expectations. We show the relation between trust and the mental background of delegation. We explain why trust is a bet, and implies some risks, and analyse the most basic forms of non-social trust (reliance on objects and tools) to arrive at the more complex forms of social trust, based on morality and reputation. Finally we present a principled quantification of trust, based on its cognitive ingredients, and use this "degree of trust " as the basis for a rational decision to delegate or not to another agent. The paper is

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