Effects of Trust and Communication on Cooperative Choice in a Two-person Prisoner's Dilemma Game

Abstract

The present study explored the effects of two types of interpersonal trust: general trust and specific trust, on cooperative choices in two-person Prisoner's Dilemma Game, and ex- (2) Communication type strongly affected specific trust towards the partner with whom communication had taken place. (3) Uncooperative communication contributed to the cooperation rates indirectly through specific trust towards the communicated partner, whereas cooperative communication explained the cooperation rates directly. It was found that communication opportunity itself did not affect cooperation directly, but it determined which type of trust came into operation. The possibility of specific trust becoming generalized toward general trust was discussed.