Who is Trustworthy? Predicting Trustworthy Intentions and Behavior

Abstract

Existing trust research has disproportionately focused on what makes people more or less trusting, and has largely ignored the question of what makes people more or less trustworthy. In this investigation, we deepen our understanding of trustworthiness. Across six studies using economic games that measure trustworthy behavior and survey items that measure trustworthy intentions, we explore the personality traits that predict trustworthiness. We demonstrate that guilt-proneness predicts trustworthiness better than a variety of other personality measures, and we identify sense of interpersonal responsibility as the underlying mechanism by both measuring it and manipulating it directly. People who are high in guilt-proneness are more likely to be trustworthy than are individuals who are low in guilt-proneness, but they are not universally more generous. We demonstrate that people high in guilt-proneness are more likely to behave in interpersonally sensitive ways when they are more responsible for others' outcomes. We also explore potential interventions to increase trustworthiness. Our findings fill a significant gap in the trust literature by building a foundation for investigating trustworthiness, by identifying a trait predictor of trustworthy intentions and behavior, and by providing practical advice for deciding in whom we should place our trust.

A multidimensional approach to the relationship between individualism-collectivism and guilt and shame.

“…As the question of self-report measures' association with actual behavior and psychological states is a perennial issue in psychological research, particularly when social desirability of responding is a concern (e.g., Crowne & Marlowe, 1960;Paulhus, 1986), it is worth approaching the present results with a degree of caution. However, while actual behavior was not assessed in the present research, previous research has shown that scores on the GASP relate to behavioral outcomes, such as lying for financial gain and trustworthy behavior in interpersonal exchanges (Levine, Bitterly, Cohen, & Schweitzer, 2018).…”

Mapping societal trust and trust in negotiations

“…Multiple studies of cultural differences in negotiation rely on this theory (Gelfand et al, 2013;Gelfand and Cai, 2004;Kern et al, 2012;Morris and Gelfand, 2004). Negotiation is a IJCMA 32,5 social decision-making process in which parties are interdependent and negotiators rely on knowledge of themselves, the other party and the context to make trust-related decisions (Levine et al, 2018;Mayer et al, 1995). In negotiations, the context can make certain cultural knowledge more salient and more accessible for negotiators, thereby affecting their attitudes and behaviors.…”

What's Sex Got to Do with It? Questioning Research on Gender & Negotiation

“…Trustworthiness is the part of trust that looks at one's likelihood to do what one has promised-will a negotiator carry out his or her commitments. 114 It logically follows that when negotiators can trust one another, the negotiation itself WHAT'S SEX GOT TO DO WITH IT 939…”