Norms of Reciprocation Exhibited by Polish Students in the Trust Game: Experimental Results

Abstract

Norms of reciprocity and the level of generalised trust are components of the social capital of a society, which is argued to be associated with economic growth. This article presents results from a large scale study of Polish students based on the Trust Game, in which an initiator and respondent can obtain mutual benefits when the initiator exhibits trust in the respondent, who then expresses positive reciprocity. Based on these results, we investigate norms of positive reciprocation within the Polish student community. Analysis indicates that a large proportion of students seem to use one of four simple norms of reciprocation. In statistical terms, the level of reciprocation is rather well reflected in the expectations of the initiators.