"After presenting an overview of sociological reflections on interpersonal trust and sociability, the author attempts to understand the complex dynamics of trust by analyzing survey data on European values. This reveals that trust represents a resilient cultural trait in various European societies, and that it is linked with many other attitudes: high sociability; general optimism; politicization and political participation; open, positive attitudes to the world; tolerance with regard to others; etc. Trust is also connected with the economic and cultural capital of individuals and the level of development in each country, although it is not easy to identify the direction of the causal links."