Trust Game Research Articles

How video calls affect mimicry and trust during interactions.

Many social species, humans included, mimic emotional expressions, with important consequences for social bonding. Although humans increasingly interact via video calls, little is known about the effect of these online interactions on the mimicry of scratching and yawning, and their linkage with trust. The current study investigated whether mimicry and trust are affected by these new communication media. Using participant-confederate dyads (n = 27), we tested the mimicry of four behaviours across three different conditions: watching a pre-recorded video, online video call, and face-to-face. We measured mimicry of target behaviours frequently observed in emotional situations, yawn and scratch and control behaviours, lip-bite and face-touch. In addition, trust in the confederate was assessed via a trust game. Our study revealed that (i) mimicry and trust did not differ between face-to-face and video calls, but were significantly lower in the pre-recorded condition; and (ii) target behaviours were significantly more mimicked than the control behaviours. This negative relationship can possibly be explained by the negative connotation usually associated with the behaviours included in this study. Overall, this study showed that video calls might provide enough interaction cues for mimicry to occur in our student population and during interactions between strangers. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Face2face: advancing the science of social interaction'.

Oxytocin has sex-specific effects on trust and underlying neurophysiological processes

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) regulates mammalian social approach behavior across sexes. Yet most OT studies in humans exclusively investigated men. Here, we studied sex differences in OT’s effects on human trust behavior in 144 heterosexual participants (73 women, 71 men). Participants received 24 international units of intranasal OT or placebo treatment and played a trust game in the role of the investor while undergoing electroencephalography. Trustees were represented by photos of the other sex gradually varying in their pre-rated intensities of facial features signaling attractiveness and threat. On a behavioral level, we observed that OT increased trust in men and reduced it in women when trustees showed weak signals of attractiveness and threat. Correspondingly, on the neurophysiological level, we noted that OT intensified the P100 in male participants, but dampened it in female ones. Our findings demonstrate OT’s sex- and context-specific effects on social approach behavior and an underlying early visual attention-related brain process. This evidence demonstrates the need to consider psychobiological mechanisms of sexual dimorphism in human OT research.

Generalized Trust Rather than Perception of Relational Mobility Correlates with Nominating Close Friends in a Social Network1

AbstractA social environment, such as relational mobility, which represents the availability of opportunities to develop new relationships in society, cultivates an individual's psychology and social network. Generalized trust, which represents trust among people in general, is a tendency to expand individuals' social ties in a fluid society. Using the data of 170 students, we analyzed whether an individual's belief of generalized trust and perception of relational mobility are related to the social network. We conducted a survey to assess psychological measures and social networks under the COVID‐19 pandemic for first‐year university students. The analyses revealed that generalized trust was significantly associated with the presence of outdegrees (i.e., the nomination of close friends) and the absence of indegrees (i.e., being nominated by others). In contrast, perception of relational mobility was not significantly associated with generalized trust and any social network measures. Behavioral trust, measured using a Trust Game approximately 6 months later, was not significantly associated with network characteristics. The results support the argument that the belief of generalized trust functions as a psychological mechanism to expand individuals' relationships in their social networks.

The Impact of Order Effects on the Framing of Trust and Reciprocity Behaviors

Trust and reciprocity have paramount importance in cooperative relationships. The influence of psychological effects such as framing and anchoring on trust and reciprocity has been investigated; however, the impact of an order effect on them is still unexplored. The goal of our study was to examine how order impacts the framing of trust and reciprocity by manipulating framing and order as within- and between-subjects factors, respectively. Different groups of participants first completed two framings of the one-shot trust game (give vs. take frame) in a counterbalanced order (give first and then take second vs. take first then give second) in the role of trustors or trustees and rated the expectations of their counterparts’ decisions afterward. Our results revealed higher trust in the take than give frame in the first decision and a reverse outcome in the second decision due to strong anchoring. Reciprocity was higher in the give than take frame in the first decisions, and no difference in the second decisions was observed due to weak anchoring. Anchoring also caused an order effect in trust and reciprocity, with higher trust when the take frame was played first, and higher reciprocity when the give frame was played first. Our results contribute to our knowledge about situational factors that shape trust and reciprocity, highlighting the impact of the context of the decision environment in terms of the impact of the order on framing.

The development of adolescent trust behavior

Interpersonal trust shows developmental changes during adolescence. The current study used a longitudinal design to examine the development of trust behavior, the presence of gender differences in these developmental trajectories, and the association between individual differences in these developmental trajectories and perspective-taking abilities. The participants played a trust game with a hypothetical trustworthy partner and a trust game with a hypothetical untrustworthy partner in 3 consecutive years (Mage = 12.55 years, Mage = 13.54 years, and Mage = 14.54 years). Concerning the development of trust behavior, the results showed an age-related increase in initial trust behavior and indicated increasingly adaptive trust behavior with age during untrustworthy interactions, whereas no evidence was found for age-related changes in the adaptation of trust during trustworthy interactions. Gender differences were found for the development of initial trust behavior (with boys showing a stronger increase with age than girls), whereas no support was found for the presence of gender differences in the developmental trajectories of adaptive trust behavior during trustworthy and untrustworthy interactions. Furthermore, no evidence was found for perspective-taking abilities to explain individual differences in the development of initial trust behavior or in the development of adaptive trust behavior during trustworthy and untrustworthy interactions. The results provide evidence that, during adolescence initial trust behavior increased with age, more for boys than for girls, and that both boys and girls showed a stronger adaptive response to the untrustworthy partner but not to the trustworthy partner.

Politically motivated interpersonal biases: Polarizing effects of partisanship and immigration attitudes

We demonstrate effects of political preferences on interpersonal interactions in the environment of the highly unstable and volatile party system of the Czech Republic. The effects of partisanship on interpersonal relations are compared to the effects of attitudes on a salient issue. Two experiments confirm the potential of political partisanship to affect the individual’s ingroup preferences and outgroup biases, which can influence willingness to converse with others in the context of an unstable party system. In a conjoint experiment, dis/agreement on immigration has comparable effects on interpersonal interactions. Avoidance of interactions with out-partisans is amplified when out-partisans talk about politics often. The patterns of ingroup preferences and outgroup biases are replicated in a trust game experiment. Both partisanship and immigration attitudes influence how subjects interact with others. Given the political context, the study provides a hard test of politically motivated ingroup and outgroup biases stemming both from party and policy preferences.

Salivary Oxytocin Has Nonlinear Relationships with Trust and Reciprocity

Oxytocin has been proposed to regulate human trust. Previous experiments supported this claim by demonstrating that exogenous and endogenous oxytocin is associated with trust (how much trust people place in strangers) and reciprocity (how much people reciprocate when trusted). However, recent replication attempts have been unsuccessful in demonstrating the trust-enhancing effect of oxytocin, and there is limited evidence on whether oxytocin is associated with reciprocity. This study aimed to replicate the previously found nonlinear relationships between the endogenous oxytocin concentration and both trust and reciprocity by utilizing a monetarily incentivized trust game. In a college sample, we found that salivary oxytocin levels showed (i) an inverted U-shaped relationship with trust in men and (ii) a U-shaped relationship with reciprocity in women. The current results confirm the previous finding that endogenous oxytocin levels have nonlinear relationships with trust and reciprocity. Further research on the role of oxytocin secretion in trust and reciprocity is warranted.

Trusting when risk and ambiguity create opportunities for exploitation

This article studies the effect of uncertainty on reciprocity and trust using an experimental trust game in which the trustor’s transfer is lost with some probability. Only the trustee will observe whether the transfer is lost or not. As a result, when not receiving anything back, the trustor cannot differentiate between a lost transfer and a selfish trustee. The results show that self-serving decisions of trustees increase with uncertainty. This increase is not driven by trustees who use their informational advantage and return zero. Instead, trustees continue to return positive amounts, but share less under uncertainty. Trustors also reduce transfers with increasing uncertainty. The data supports that risk attitudes, less sharing with trustees and the anticipation of trustee decisions contribute to this finding on trustor decisions.

Who exploits? The trusted one, the dark one, or both?

Trust represents one of the most complex phenomena in social settings, in that, while it is necessary for social interactions, it also renders one vulnerable to exploitation. Further, its examination stands at the crossroads of the person-situation debate due to its conceptualisation as a dispositional trait as well as a situational artefact. This study examined the role of dark traits and trust in promoting exploitative choices at the individual and situational levels. In a sample of working managers (Study 1), we hypothesised and investigated the moderating role of trust in the relationship between dark core and exploitation at the trait level. In a sample of prospective managers (Study 2), we examined the situational influence of social distance and reward on the propensity to behave exploitatively using a trust game. The findings revealed a positive moderating role of trust in both studies. Additionally, it was observed that dark core and trust significantly interacted with the inherent reward for defection and social distance to predict exploitation, self-interest, or benevolence across the situations. As managerial trust is essential, our study is relevant considering that dark individuals are increasingly rising in the organizational hierarchy.

EXPRESS: Social and non-social categorisation in investment decisions and learning.

Categorical processes allow us to make sense of the environment effortlessly by grouping stimuli sharing relevant features. Although these processes occur in both social and non-social contexts, motivational, affective and epistemic factors specific to the social world may motivate individuation over categorisation of social compared to non-social stimuli. In one experiment, we tested this hypothesis by analysing the reliance on categorical versus individuating information when making investment decisions about social and non-social targets. In an adaptation of the iterative trust game, participants from three experimental groups had to predict the economic outcomes associated with either humans (i.e., social stimuli), artificial races (i.e., social-like stimuli), or artworks (i.e., non-social stimuli) to earn economic rewards. We observed that investment decisions with humans were initially biased by categorical information in the form of gender stereotypes, but later improved through an individuating learning approach. In contrast, decisions made with non-social stimuli were initially unbiased by categorical information, but the category-outcomes associations learned through repeated interactions were quickly used to categorise new targets. These results are discussed along with motivational and perceptual mechanisms involved in investment decisions and learning about social and non-social agents.

Age-related differences in the social associative learning of trust information

Trust is a key component of social interaction. Older adults, however, often exhibit excessive trust relative to younger adults. One explanation is that older adults may learn to trust differently than younger adults. Here, we examine how younger (N = 33) and older adults (N = 30) learn to trust over time. Participants completed a classic iterative trust game with 3 partners. Younger and older adults shared similar amounts but differed in how they shared money. Compared to younger adults, older adults invested more with untrustworthy partners and less with trustworthy partners. As a group, older adults displayed less learning than younger adults. However, computational modeling suggests that this is not because older adults learn differently from positive and negative feedback than younger adults. Model-based fMRI analyses revealed several age- and learning-related differences in neural processing. Specifically, we found that older learners (N = 19), relative to older non-learners (N = 11), had greater reputation-related activity in metalizing/memory areas while making their decisions. Collectively, these findings suggest that older adult learners use social cues differently from non-learners.

Honesty in the city

Lab evidence on trust games involves more cooperation than conventional economic theory predicts. We explore whether this pattern extends to a field setting where we are able to control for (lack of) repeat-play and reputation: the taxi market in Mexico City. We find a remarkably high degree of trustworthiness, even with price-haggling which was predicted to reduce trustworthiness.

HEXACO Personality Dimensions Do Not Predict Individual Differences in Adolescent Trust Behavior

Adolescence is an important developmental period for both trust behavior and personality maturation, and individual differences in trust decisions may be related to different personality traits. In the current study, a group of adolescents (n = 483, Mage = 13.5, SDage = 0.4) played two counterbalanced conditions of a multi-round trust game. In one condition, the partner displayed trustworthy behavior (the trustworthy condition), while the partner in the other condition played untrustworthy behavior (the untrustworthy condition). Three types of trust behavior were examined: initial trust behavior, the adaptation of trust behavior (trustworthy condition), and the adaptation of trust behavior (untrustworthy condition). Personality was measured using the Brief HEXACO Inventory. We expected the HEXACO personality dimensions of honesty–humility and agreeableness to be positively associated with initial trust behavior, but conscientiousness to be negatively related to initial trust behavior. The examination of the relationship between these dimensions and the adaptation of trust behavior were conducted on an exploratory basis. The investigation of the relationship between the remaining dimensions (emotionality, extraversion, and openness to experience) and the three types of trust behavior were also carried out on an exploratory basis. For each type of trust behavior, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was undertaken to examine whether the HEXACO personality dimensions were related to trust behavior. Using frequentist analyses, no evidence was found that supported the HEXACO dimensions as significant predictors of the three types of trust behavior. Moreover, additional Bayesian analyses showed evidence that the hypothesized HEXACO dimensions (honesty–humility, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) did not outperform the non-hypothesized HEXACO dimensions (emotionality, extraversion, and openness to experience). The association between personality traits and trust might be less pronounced during adolescence as personality maturates across an individual’s lifespan. Additionally, due to a heightened sensitivity to the environment, contextual cues may affect adolescent decision-making processes, leaving less room for personality-driven behaviors.

Betting on a brand: How can trust game experiments inform a brand trust research agenda?

AbstractFor brands to succeed, they often need consumers to trust them. This has prompted marketing and consumer behaviour researchers to examine what makes certain brands more trusted and how brands can identify themselves as trustworthy. For over 25 years, experimental economists, behavioural scientists and others have examined interpersonal trust using an exercise—the trust game—where participants put money at risk based on how trustworthy they think other people are. This research has remained largely separate from work on brand trust, but this critical review aims to identify findings and concepts from trust game‐based research that are relevant to brand trust, and starts to develop an integrated research agenda for the future. In particular, it looks at how brand trust is measured, how brand trust might (or might not) be distinguished from transactional risk, and the heuristics and biases behind brand trust judgements and how these relate to brands' attempts to signal their trustworthiness.

Does trust break even? A trust-game experiment with negative endowments

The Trust Game literature is quite extensive; those experimental studies consider situations where a trustor risks an endowment to become wealthier when trustworthiness pays off. In the worst case, the trustor leaves the experiment with no payment. Our study contrasts that situation to a treatment in which trust and trustworthiness might help to escape an inevitable financial loss. Both the trustor and trustee might break even or even leave the experiment with a positive outcome. We find slightly more trust in our treatment than in the established design; however, we find no difference in trustworthiness.

Social network position, trust behavior, and neural activity in young adolescents

Our social interactions take place within numerous social networks, in which our relationships with others define our position within these networks. In this study, we examined how the centrality of positions within social networks was associated with trust behavior and neural activity in 49 adolescents (Mage = 12.8 years, SDage = 0.4 years). The participants played a trust game with a cartoon animation as a partner, which showed adaptive behavior in response to the participant and was generally untrustworthy. Social network positions were obtained in secondary school classrooms where the participants and their classmates reported on who their friends were. Using social network analysis, a score was calculated that indicated the centrality of everyone's position within the friendship network. The results showed that more central social network positions were associated with higher levels of initial trust behavior, although no evidence was found for a relationship between network position and the adaptation of trust behavior. The results of the functional MRI analyses showed that the centrality of the network positions was positively associated with caudate activity when making trust decisions. Furthermore, the adolescents with more central network positions also showed stronger increases of caudate activity when the partner's return was processed compared to the adolescents with less central network positions. The current study provides initial evidence that social network positions in friendship networks relate to socio-cognitive behavior and neural activity in adolescents.

Default Matters in Trust and Reciprocity

Trust and reciprocity promote cooperation and are key elements of a successful social life. This study investigated the framing effects on trust and reciprocity behaviors. Using an iterated one-shot within-subjects design, this study explored how trust and reciprocity decisions changed when the game was framed in terms of a give (i.e., using a standard trust game with a default of no trust) and a take (e.g., using a distrust game with a default of full trust) frame. Participants of both genders first completed the scenario version of the game (Session 1), and then played the roles of trustors (Session 2) and trustees (Session 3) with human and computer-mediated human partners either in the give or take frame. Our results showed increased trust in the give than in the take frame, but only pronounced in direct interaction with human (vs. indirect computer-mediated) partners. Participants also showed higher expectations of return in the give than in the take frame. The actual reciprocity was higher in the give than in the take frame when interacting both with human and computer-mediated human partners. The results contribute to our understanding of the factors that shape trust and reciprocity and emphasize the impact of framing the default.

The Effect of Openness to Experience on Trust Behavior: The Moderating Role of Situational Strength

The research aimed to integrate how trusting behavior was formed by an interaction between individual personality traits and situational context. Trust game protocol and a series of personality trait questionnaires were utilized to generate the data. A moderated regression with categorical variables was established to test the hypothesis of whether a player’s role or situational strength moderated the relationship between players’ trait and their corresponding trusting behavior. Regression results showed that situational strength moderated the U-shaped relationship between openness to experience and trusting behavior, such that the U-shaped relationship was more pronounced in weak situations. The research tested the hypotheses in the trust game setting to isolate the moderating role of weak and strong situations. In future research, it is necessary to present both weak and strong situations in a real organizational setting. The research offers insight into how individuals, from lower to higher openness to experience developed the trusting behavior to explore information to enhance their knowledge of an economic decision-making situation. The U-shaped relationship implies the course of the knowledge enhancement; first, by exploring the internal belief (thus it makes lower trust) to understand the situation, and second, by putting more trust in others to reduce the need for instantaneous compensation because of an enhanced expectation that commitment would be honored in the future.

Measuring corruption in the field using behavioral games

Corruption is often harmful for economic development, yet it is difficult to measure due to its illicit nature. We propose a novel corruption game to characterize the interaction between actual political leaders and citizens, and implement it in Northern Mozambique. Contrary to the game-theoretic prediction, both leaders and citizens engage in corruption. Importantly, corruption in the game is correlated with real-world corruption by leaders: citizens send bribes to leaders whom we observe appropriating community money. In corrupt behavior, we identify an important trust dimension captured by a standard trust game.

Effects of sex and sex-related facial traits on trust and trustworthiness: An experimental study.

The ability to trust others, including strangers, is a prerequisite for human cooperation. Economically it is not rational to trust strangers, as trust can be easily exploited. Still, generally, the level of trust toward strangers is relatively high. Trust is closely related to trustworthiness: when trusting others, one expects them to reciprocate. Some individuals elicit more trust than others. Apparently, humans use subtle cues for judging the trustworthiness of their interaction partners. Here, we report on an experiment that investigates trust and trustworthiness in a population of 176 mainly Dutch students. The aims of our study were: (1) to investigate how the sex of interaction partners and their facial appearance (femininity/masculinity) affect the degree of trust and trustworthiness, compared to fully anonymous conditions; (2) to test whether individuals who elicit trust in their interaction partners are trustworthy themselves. Each subject of our experiment played five one-shot Trust Games: one with an anonymous interaction partner, and four "personalized" games after seeing a 20 s silent video of their interaction partner (twice same-sex, and twice opposite-sex). The degree of facial sexual dimorphism was investigated with geometric morphometrics based on full-face photographs. Our results revealed that, despite the already high level of trust in the anonymous setting, the personalization of interactions had a clear effect on behavior. Females elicited more trust in partners of both sexes. Interestingly, females with more feminine faces elicited less trust in both male and female partners, while males with more masculine facial shape were more trusted by females, but less trusted by males. Neither sex nor facial femininity/masculinity predicted trustworthiness. Our results demonstrate that (1) sex and sex-related facial traits of interaction partners have a clear effect on eliciting trust in strangers. However, (2) these cues are not reliable predictors of actual trustworthiness.