Distrust in Information Systems Research: A Need for Stronger Theoretical Contributions to Our Discipline

The literature on distrust in information systems (IS) research is still in its infancy. In this literature review, we have compiled the IS-related texts on distrust from the major journals and conferences and examined how the IT artefact itself is portrayed and conceptualised. We find that a majority of the research treats information technology in a nominal way, failing to explicitly theorise about the specifics of the technology. In accordance with previous commentators we argue that this is unfortunate. We also find that not much consensus as to how to understand distrust has yet emerged, and we argue that a stronger focus on our core -- the information technology -- could help bring together the now rather fragmented understanding.