Abstract
Accumulating empirical evidence suggests that anger elicited in one situation can influence trust behaviors in another situation. However, the conditions under which anger influences trust are still unclear. The present study addresses this research gap and examines the ways in which anger influences trust. We hypothesized that the social distance to the trustee, and the trusting person’s gender would moderate the effect of anger on trust. To test this hypothesis, a study using a 2 (Anger vs. Control) × 2 (Low vs. High social distance) × 2 (Men vs. Women) factorial design was conducted in Germany (N = 215) and in China (N = 310). Results reveal that in both countries men’s trust behavior was not influenced by the manipulations (i.e., anger and social distance). The pattern for women, however, differed by country. In Germany, women’s trust to a stranger (i.e., high social distance) was increased by anger; while in China, women’s trust to someone who they have communicated with (i.e., low social distance) was increased by anger. These results indicate that women’s trust levels seem to be more context-sensitive than men’s.
Highlights
Trust is a fundamental component of human relationships, often playing a role in perpetuating cooperative relationships among groups and individuals (e.g., Fukuyama, 1995; Hoffman et al, 1998; Fehr, 2009; Algan and Cahuc, 2013)
We used regression to assess the effects of emotion, social distance and gender on trust [anger = 1, control = 0; low social distance (LSD) = 1, high social distance (HSD) = 0; male = 1, female = 0], and controlled the general trust belief in other people as covariate
In two studies we demonstrated that the influence of anger on trust was moderated by gender and the social distance of the trustee
Summary
Trust is a fundamental component of human relationships, often playing a role in perpetuating cooperative relationships among groups and individuals (e.g., Fukuyama, 1995; Hoffman et al, 1998; Fehr, 2009; Algan and Cahuc, 2013). Recent accumulating empirical evidence suggests that trust behaviors might be influenced by emotions (e.g., Dunning et al, 2012; Engelmann and Fehr, 2013). The specific ways in which emotions influence trust, Differential Effects of Anger on Trust are still unclear. As increasing evidence indicates that women more frequently use social cues to form their trust than men (e.g., Croson and Gneezy, 2009; Rand et al, 2016), we will investigate the moderating role of gender on the relationship between anger and trust. In the present work we will investigate the effects of anger on trust, depending on the trusting person’s gender (Croson and Buchan, 1999; Buchan et al, 2008) and perceived social distance from the trustee.
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