Impression Of Trustworthiness Research Articles

Effect of Different Listening Behaviors of Social Robots on Perceived Trust in Human-robot Interactions

With the increased use of social robots in prominence and beyond functional performance, they are expected to foster trust and confidence in people. Various factors involve providing social robots with more trustworthy behavior. This study investigated whether the listening behavior of a social robot can affect the perception of being trustworthy in human–robot interaction. Therefore, we designed four different listening behaviors, including nonactive listening, active listening, active empathic listening, and verbal-only empathic listening, for a social robot and evaluated the impact of each behavior on the participants’ likelihood of trusting the robot, using a between-subject design. Participants in the four conditions conversed with a robot that simulated one of the listening behaviors, and their general, cognitive and affective trust toward the robot was measured. The results indicated that active empathic listening behavior provided the participants with the highest impression of trustworthiness, specifically in affective trust. Both active listening and active empathic listening were evaluated higher than nonactive listening in general, affective, and cognitive trust. However, active empathic listening behavior was differentiated from active listening behavior only in terms of affective trust. For verbal and nonverbal dimensions of listening behaviors, it was confirmed that nonverbal behaviors such as nodding, body movement, and eye gaze along with verbal behaviors, had a significant effect in eliciting higher affective trust in human-robot interaction. Consequently, we concluded that designing social robots with active (empathic) listening behavior can enhance trust perception in human-robot interaction in different fields such as education, healthcare, and business.

Face your heart: resting vagally mediated Heart Rate Variability Shapes Social Attributions from facial appearance

Phylogenetic theories suggest resting vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) as a biomarker for adaptive behavior in social encounters. Until now, no study has examined whether vmHRV can predict individual differences in inferring personality traits and intentions from facial appearance. To test this hypothesis, resting vmHRV was recorded in 83 healthy individuals before they rated a series of faces based on their first impression of trustworthiness, dominance, typicality, familiarity, caring, and attractiveness. We found an association between individual differences in vmHRV and social attributions from facial appearance. Specifically, higher levels of vmHRV predicted higher scores on ratings of caring and trustworthiness, suggesting that strangers’ faces are more likely to be perceived as safer. The present results suggest that higher levels of vmHRV (compared with lower levels of vmHRV) are associated with the tendency to minimize social evaluative threat and maximize affiliative social cues at a first glance of others’ faces.

Facial impression of trustworthiness biases statement credibility unless suppressed by facemask

The impression of trustworthiness based on someone’s facial appearance biases our subsequent behavior toward that subject in a variety of contexts. In this study, we investigated whether facial trustworthiness also biases the credibility of utterances associated with that face (H1). We explored whether this bias is mitigated by utterances eliciting reasoning, i.e. explanations (as opposed to factual statements; H2). Moreover, we hypothesized that overimposing facemasks on those faces could enhance/reduce utterance credibility due to social value of mask-wearing (H3), and that facemasks could counter the putative credibility bias introduced by facial trustworthiness (H4). If so, this may be either because facemasks remove the visual information necessary for trustworthiness impression (H4a), or because information is less salient, although it can be retrieved under different circumstances (H4b). An online study (N = 159) was conducted to test these hypotheses. In the first task, subjects saw 48 facial pictures coupled with one utterance and judged the truthfulness/falsity of this utterance. In the second task, they saw again 16 of the faces from the previous tasks and were asked to recall whether the associated utterance was true or false. Findings from the first task support H1 and H4, but not H2 and H3. However, in the second task, where the face is the only available cue, the credibility-mitigation bias exerted by facemask disappears, supporting H4b over H4a. Our results confirm the pervasivity of facial trustworthiness impressions in social cognition, and suggest that facemask can mitigate them, or at least their salience.

Factors Associated With Perceived Trust of False Abortion Websites: Cross-sectional Online Survey.

BackgroundMost patients use the internet to search for health information. While there is a vast repository of searchable information online, much of the content is unregulated and therefore potentially incorrect, conflicting, or confusing. Abortion information online is particularly prone to being inaccurate as antichoice websites publish purposefully misleading information in formats that appear as neutral resources. To understand how antichoice websites appear neutral, we need to understand the specific website features of antichoice websites that impart an impression of trustworthiness.ObjectiveWe sought to identify the characteristics of false or misleading abortion websites that make these websites appear trustworthy to the public.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. We used validated questionnaires to ask participants to rate 11 antichoice websites and one neutral website identified by experts, focusing on website content, creators, and design. We collected sociodemographic data and participant views on abortion. We used a composite measure of “mean overall trust” as our primary outcome. Using correlation matrices, we determined which website characteristics were most associated with mean overall trust. Finally, we used linear regression to identify participant characteristics associated with overall trust.ResultsOur analytic sample included 498 participants aged from 22 to 70 years, and 50.1% (247/493) identified as female. Across 11 antichoice websites, creator confidence (“I believe that the creators of this website are honest and trustworthy”) had the highest correlation coefficient (strongest relationship) with mean overall trust (coefficient=0.70). Professional appearance (coefficient=0.59), look and feel (coefficient=0.59), perception that the information is created by experts (coefficient=0.59), association with a trustworthy organization (coefficient=0.58), valued features and functionalities (coefficient=0.54), and interactive capabilities (coefficient=0.52) all demonstrated strong relationships with mean overall trust. At the individual level, prochoice leaning was associated with higher overall trust of the neutral website (B=−0.43, 95% CI −0.87 to 0.01) and lower mean overall trust of the antichoice websites (B=0.52, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.99).ConclusionsThe mean overall trust of antichoice websites is most associated with design characteristics and perceived trustworthiness of website creators. Those who believe that access to abortion should be limited are more likely to have higher mean overall trust for antichoice websites.

Face first impression of trustworthiness in Williams Syndrome: Dissociating automatic vs decision based perception

Humans make rapid decisions of trustworthiness based on facial appearance. Williams Syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder associated with hypersociability toward strangers, suggesting a disruption in trust assessment. We recorded eye-movements in neurotypically-developed (TD) participants (N = 21) and in patients with WS (N = 22) as we presented pairs of computer-generated faces, pre-rated as trustworthy or untrustworthy. In a spontaneous visual preference task, TD participants gazed significantly longer at trustworthy faces while patients with WS showed no preferences for either face-type. Next, in a decision task, participants selected the face that they judged consistent with one of three social descriptions relating to high levels of trust. Both groups gazed longer at trustworthy faces and made correct matches with the corresponding social descriptions. Improvements by patients with WS in the decision task were contingent on outcomes measured on the emotional NEPSY scale. We conclude that while spontaneous representation of trustworthiness is impaired in WS, top-down mechanisms of trust recognition appear partially preserved.

Implicit preference for human trustworthy faces in macaque monkeys

It has been shown that human judgements of trustworthiness are based on subtle processing of specific facial features. However, it is not known if this ability is a specifically human function, or whether it is shared among primates. Here we report that macaque monkeys (Macaca Mulatta and Macaca Fascicularis), like humans, display a preferential attention to trustworthiness-associated facial cues in computer-generated human faces. Monkeys looked significantly longer at faces categorized a priori as trustworthy compared to untrustworthy. In addition, spatial sequential analysis of monkeys’ initial saccades revealed an upward shift with attention moving to the eye region for trustworthy faces while no change was observed for the untrustworthy ones. Finally, we found significant correlations between facial width-to-height ratio– a morphometric feature that predicts trustworthiness’ judgments in humans – and looking time in both species. These findings suggest the presence of common mechanisms among primates for first impression of trustworthiness.

Practices of activation in frontline interactions: Coercion, persuasion, and the role of trust in activation policies in Germany

AbstractFollowing Michael Lipsky's well‐known argument that policy is made in the daily encounters between street‐level bureaucracy and citizens, a growing body of research emphasizes that actors and organizations delivering social and labor‐market policy play a crucial role in welfare‐state politics. Using qualitative data collected at three local employment agencies in Germany, this article explores worker‐client relations as a crucial mechanism through which activation policies are translated into practice. The analysis investigates how caseworkers define their role and their relationships with clients. The findings show that it is essential for caseworkers to achieve client compliance. In such a context, building relationships of trust is a strategic instrument in overcoming possible barriers to co‐operation in the caseworker‐client interaction. Caseworkers develop strategies to create the impression of trustworthiness and to motivate both unemployed clients and employers to become trust‐givers in the caseworker‐client relation. While research has often stressed the dichotomy between disciplining and enabling elements of activation policies, our explorative study shows that persuasion and trust‐building are a further important dimension of the frontline delivery of activation policies. These strategies reflect the importance of emotional aspects of frontline work.

Blindness and social trust: The effect of early visual deprivation on judgments of trustworthiness.

Investigating the impact of early visual deprivation on evaluations related to social trust has received little attention to date. This is despite consistent evidence suggesting that early onset blindness may interfere with the normal development of social skills. In this study, we investigated whether early blindness affects judgments of trustworthiness regarding the actions of an agent, with trustworthiness representing the fundamental dimension in the social evaluation. Specifically, we compared performance between a group of early blind individuals with that of sighted controls in their evaluation of trustworthiness of an agent after hearing a pair of two positive or two negative social behaviors (impression formation). Participants then repeated the same evaluation following the presentation of a third (consistent or inconsistent) behavior regarding the same agent (impression updating). Overall, blind individuals tended to give similar evaluations compared to their sighted counterparts. However, they also valued positive behaviors significantly more than sighted controls when forming their impression of an agent's trustworthiness. Moreover, when inconsistent information was provided, blind individuals were more prone to revise their initial evaluation compared to controls. These results suggest that early visual deprivation may have a dramatic effect on the evaluation of social factors such as trustworthiness.

Effect of Camera Angle on Perception of Trust and Attractiveness

Film theories have long proposed that the vertical camera angle influences how the scene and the character in it are interpreted. An elevated camera (high-angle shot) should diminish the qualities of the actor, whereas a lowered camera (low-angle shot) should elevate the actor in perspective as well as in the viewer’s opinion. We were interested in how this holds up for the impression of trustworthiness and attractiveness that the spectator receives of the actor. We filmed 12 actors in a scenario inspired by a TV show called Split or Steal, which features a one-time version of the prisoner’s dilemma. Subjects had to rate trustworthiness and attractiveness of the actors, and also judge if the actors would lie or tell the truth. We found that actors were rated as most trustworthy when filmed from eye-level, and less so when the camera was lowered or raised. Camera elevation had no effect on attractiveness. Also, personality ratings of the actors were not altered by varying camera angle. We conclude that context plays an important role in how camera angle interacts with actor perception.

Fostering Trust-based Relationship between Self-care Users and Home Medical Device in Thai and Japanese

This paper presents a cross-cultural research on the perception of trustworthiness in self-care home medical device in particular, blood pressure monitor in Thai and Japanese young adults. The study focuses on the method of incorporating social role image into the device to strengthen the image of trustworthiness, and its effects on Japanese and Thai users. The emerging challenges in home medical device design call for the integration of trustworthy image in order to help alleviate the feeling of fear and worrying of non-professional users when interacting with medical devices. This research focuses on one particular methodology for creating perception of trustworthiness in technological agent: the incorporation of social role image. The first part of the research includes a cross-cultural survey (Thai and Japanese) on trustworthiness impressions of 7 social roles that are related to home medical products. The second part is comprised of an experiment to investigate different methods of incorporating “Caretaker/Nurse” social role into blood pressure monitor (BPM)’s cuff, and their effectiveness in conveying impression of trustworthiness of BPM to Thai and Japanese young adult users. The result shows no significant differences in direct trustworthiness rating between designs with social role image and design without, in both Thai and Japanese. However, there are significant changes in mood and ratings of components that are found in literature reviews to be related to perception of trustworthiness.

Insular and hippocampal contributions to remembering people with an impression of bad personality

Our impressions of other people are formed mainly from the two possible factors of facial attractiveness and trustworthiness. Previous studies have shown the importance of orbitofrontal-hippocampal interactions in the better remembering of attractive faces, and psychological data have indicated that faces giving an impression of untrustworthiness are remembered more accurately than those giving an impression of trustworthiness. However, the neural mechanisms of the latter effect are largely unknown. To investigate this issue, we investigated neural activities with event-related fMRI while the female participants rated their impressions of the personalities of men in terms of trustworthiness. After the rating, memory for faces was tested to identify successful encoding activity. As expected, faces that gave bad impressions were remembered better than those that gave neutral or good impressions. In fMRI data, right insular activity reflected an increasing function of bad impressions, and bilateral hippocampal activities predicted subsequent memory success. Additionally, correlation between these insular and hippocampal regions was significant only in the encoding of faces associated with a bad impression. Better memory for faces associated with an impression of bad personality could reflect greater interaction between the avoidance-related insular region and the encoding-related hippocampal region.

Can I Trust You?

This explorative study identifies information elements that are commonly perceived as important to inform initial trustworthiness assessments of colleagues within virtual project teams. Collaboration in virtual project teams heavily relies on interpersonal trust, for which perceived trustworthiness is an important determinant. Knowing what information elements are used to form a first impression of trustworthiness, one can optimize the design of personal profiles so that they support trustworthiness assessments in virtual project teams. The authors reviewed various trust-requiring online environments to determine what elements were available through profile templates. A group of 226 students with experience in virtual project teams indicated the importance of the elements thus found for the formation of a first impression of trustworthiness. On the basis of the results obtained, the authors formulated recommendations for the design of personal identity profiles in groupware environments.

Mustache Fashion Covaries with a Good Marriage Market for Women

It was predicted that men would emphasize sexually-selected traits, including mustaches, beards, and sideburns, when they have difficulty obtaining spouses. Using annual data on British beard fashions extending from 1842–1971, it was found that mustaches, and facial hair in general, are more frequent when there is a good supply of single men of marriageable age. Facial hair fashions, particularly mustaches and beards, were reduced when illegitimacy ratios were high. Regression analyses showed that the relationship between mustache fashion and the marriage market and illegitimacy, respectively, is independent of linear time trend. Results suggest that facial hair is worn to enhance a man's marriage prospects by increasing physical attractiveness and perception of social status. Men shave their mustaches, possibly to convey an impression of trustworthiness, when the marriage market is weak and women might fear sexual exploitation and desertion.