Abstract: This article provides a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of trust from the perspective of basic humanities: sociology, economics, law, etc. The subject of this research is the basic components of trust in the context of vast field of knowledge in social sciences and humanities. Research methodology employs multi-paradigm approach towards analyzing modern transformations of trust from preindustrial to postindustrial society. The author applies cross-disciplinary and comprehensive analysis of various forms and types of trust existing in modern world. The article considers the theoretical approaches towards studying trust that are characteristic to the foreign sociological thought, from the theory of social action and the social system to social and human capital. The novelty lies in determination of the common and specific within the basic divisions of knowledge in the context of the analysis of trust as the framework phenomenon of efficient functioning of modern society through the prism of contemporary domestic and foreign authors. Description is give to indicative components of trust; a;; levels of its efficient functioning are summarized. The author reveals the major barriers that cause crisis and a low culture of trust in the modern post-Soviet space. The conclusion is made that at the macro-level, trust encourages an individual to productive social integration and effective activity for the good of society. The macro-level of functionality of trust substantiated the effectiveness of political and social institutions, which serves as the criterion for the level of the development of democracy and civil society. The persistence of trust is determined by the historical dynamics of social development, as well as depends on its cultural and national components.