Abstract
Because trust inherently involves uncertainty, we propose that trust depends on individuals’ social-cognitive motivation to manage uncertainty. Five studies were conducted to examine the relations between individuals’ need for (cognitive) closure and their trust in others. The results showed that higher need for closure was related to lower trust in distant others (Studies 1-5) but with higher trust in close others (Studies 3-5). This relation held for both chronic (Studies 1, 2, 3, and 5) and situational need for closure (Study 4). Moreover, trust of participants with higher need for closure was also more resistant to change in the face of interpersonal interaction in the form of a negotiation(Study 2) and trustworthiness feedback (Study 5). Overall, our findings indicate that extreme (either high or low vs. moderate) and persistent levels of trust may serve people’s seizing and freezing needs for achieving cognitive closure.
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