Blinding Trust

Trust in individuals is strongly guided by group membership; ingroup favouritism in trust is a very robust finding in the literature on pro-social behaviour. We know, however, that group attitudes can change based on discrete encounters with group members (i.e., intergroup contact). This research examines how people use previous experiences with ingroup and outgroup members to inform decisions to trust novel, unknown group members. This process, which we refer to as member-to-member generalisation, was examined in two studies using a student sample (N = 135) and a larger and more representative online sample (N = 226). The moderating effects of group membership (ingroup vs outgroup vs unknown) and interaction valence (positive vs negative) on member-to-member generalisation were explored in ten sequential Trust Games. We examined changes in investment behaviour based on feedback from the previous partner, where feedback was either positive (high reciprocation) or negative (no reciprocation). We observed consistent evidence for member-to-member generalisation. People did not just rely on initial group attitudes to guide their trust behaviour, but adjusted their behaviour towards novel individuals based on previous experiences. Generalisation was stronger for interactions that were negative and seemingly unexpected. When people showed strong distrust of the outgroup (Study 1) or were highly identified with the ingroup (Study 2), they changed their behaviour towards novel partners more after experiencing incongruent interactions. These findings are discussed in relation to intergroup contact theory, outgroup homogeneity, and expectancy violation effects.

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“…Stoddard and Leibbrandt 2014), or religion (e.g. Rotella et al 2013), as well as in a minimalgroup setting (Buchan et al 2006).…”

Section: Ingroup Favouritism In Trustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Member-to-member generalisation in trust behaviour: How do prior experiences inform prosocial behaviour towards novel ingroup and outgroup members?

2019

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“…There can even be effects on intergroup relations more generally. For example, after being reminded of historical ingroup victimization, Jewish-American participants in a competitive economic game showed less outgroup trust (toward Christian players), even though the game had nothing to do with real-world intergroup conflict (Rotella, Richeson, Chiao, & Bean, 2012).…”

Section: Detrimental Consequences Of Collective Victimhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inclusive Victim Consciousness in Advocacy, Social Movements, and Intergroup Relations: Promises and Pitfalls

Vollhardt

2015

Social Issues Policy Review

120

165

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While researchers and policy makers often focus their attention on the detrimental consequences of collective victimhood, it has been posited that these negative outcomes are linked to particular construals of the ingroup's victimization: namely those that focus on the uniqueness of these experiences (exclusive victim consciousness). In contrast, perceived similarities across victim groups (inclusive victim consciousness) may be associated with more positive outcomes, including victim groups assisting and advocating for each other or engaging in joint collective action. Drawing on social psychological research and real-world cases, this review provides examples of inclusive victim consciousness in several policyrelevant domains. A distinction is made between conflict-specific and general inclusive victim consciousness. Additionally, motivations for expressing inclusive victim consciousness are discussed that vary in their degree of ingroup-versus outgroup-concern. Factors are suggested that may promote or decrease inclusive victim consciousness, including steps that can be taken by policy makers and practitioners. Finally, potential challenges and risks involved in attempts to promote inclusive victim consciousness are discussed.Members of victimized or disadvantaged groups can be powerful advocates for other victim groups-both within their own society and globally. Numerous examples in different parts of the world and periods of history show how a sense of shared collective victimhood and oppression can mobilize people to advocate on behalf of other groups that are disadvantaged or in need, help garner support for their cause, create powerful alliances that can influence votes and policies,

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“…Stoddard & Leibbrandt, 2014), or religion (e.g. Rotella, Richeson, Chiao, & Bean, 2013) as well as in a minimal-group setting (e.g. Buchan, Johnson, & Croson, 2006).…”

Section: Group-based Biases Influence Learning About Individual Trustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group-based biases influence learning about individual trustworthiness

Vermue

Seger

Sanfey

2018

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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People often have generalised expectations of trustworthiness about ingroup and outgroup members, based on previous direct and indirect experience with these groups. How do these prior biases interact with new experiences when learning about individual group members' trustworthiness? These three studies are the first to examine the effect of group-level biases on learning about individuals' trustworthiness. Participants from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom played iterated Trust Games with trustworthy and untrustworthy members of both ingroups and outgroups. We show that the influence of group membership on trust decisions depended on the valence of the interactions with individual group members. When interacting with trustworthy partners, people displayed outgroup favouritism throughout the game, investing higher in outgroup members than ingroup members. However, for untrustworthy partners, initial outgroup favouritism disappeared, and ingroup and outgroup members were equally distrusted by the end of the game. Our work suggests that when individual experience is integrated with group-based biases, group membership influences trust decisions over time, but mostly when experiences are positive. These findings are discussed in relation to complexity-extremity theory and previous work on learning in the Trust Game.

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Blinding Trust

Cited by 34 publications

References 31 publications

Member-to-member generalisation in trust behaviour: How do prior experiences inform prosocial behaviour towards novel ingroup and outgroup members?

Member-to-member generalisation in trust behaviour: How do prior experiences inform prosocial behaviour towards novel ingroup and outgroup members?

Inclusive Victim Consciousness in Advocacy, Social Movements, and Intergroup Relations: Promises and Pitfalls

Group-based biases influence learning about individual trustworthiness

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