The Connection between Neurophysiological Correlates of Trust and Distrust and Isolated HEXACO Dimensions

Abstract

Trust and distrust are constructs that have provoked and undergone lots of discussion in the fields of sociology and psychology. However, to our knowledge, there is little agreement about how these constructs should be treated in the future. The present study tries to help in this discussion by re-analyzing prior neurophysiological data highlighting differences between trust and distrust by connecting these data with two distinct personality dimensions. Thus, the objective was to analyze the connection between neurophysiological trust/distrust processing and distinct HEXACO personality dimensions. Differences were found in the event-related potentials (ERPs) calculated for visual presentations of political institution words and brand names, which were evaluated with respect to trust and distrust by button presses. Two time points (330 ms and 780 ms) showed brain activity differences between trust and distrust related to the two word categories at frontal electrode locations. For this study, these findings were taken and connected to HEXACO-60 personality inventory results collected from prior participants. Statistical analysis revealed a significant interaction between the ERPs and two HEXACO personality dimensions concerning trusted brands at the later time point (780 ms) at the right frontal electrode location F8. This result is taken as neurophysiological evidence that parameter values of the personality traits honesty–humility and agreeableness have an influence on brain functions related to trusted brands.