I define my study of trust as a methodological-substantive synergy. Specifically, I employ a sophisticated methodological approach to answer the substantively complex question of how citizens trust. My overall framework is person-centred, as I ultimately identify latent subtypes of people based on distinct patterns of trust. Using latent profile analysis, I develop a typology of citizens that represents the heterogeneity of trust attitudes in the European Union. As such, my study differs from the majority of current research, where the focus tends to be on average levels of trust in the population. Rather, I establish that citizens trust in fundamentally different ways, which, in turn, informs the meaning of different levels of trust in the aggregate. I anchor my typology in a preliminary variable-centred analysis, where I determine the most optimal dimensionality of the concept. In particular, I find support for a novel measurement model, which acts as the foundation for the patterns of trust. Further, I show that the dimensional structure of my model has interesting similarities with well-known conceptual definitions, and I consequently argue for the potential of my methodological approach to bring empirical research closer to the rich conceptual literature on the topic.