I Do Not Want to Trust You, but I Do: on the Relationship Between Trust Intent, Trusting Behavior, and Time Pressure

Abstract

We investigate the interplay of trust intent and trust behavior, an underresearched yet critical link in the trust process. Using the theory of planned behavior as a framework, we investigate the influence of time pressure (with and without personal urgency) on the intent-behavior link via two Web-based experiments. In study 1, we test how time pressure that entails a sense of personal urgency influences the intent–behavior link. On the other hand, in study 2, we investigate time pressure without a sense of personal urgency. We show that, while lacking intent to trust reduces trusting behavior, it does not become zero (study 1), and find that repeated decisions pan out differently for trustors who originally did not intend to act trustingly versus those who did (study 2). We offer new insights on the link between trust intentions and behavior by showing that while low trust intentions indeed reduce trusting behavior, trusting behavior still occurs.