Drivers of trust and trustworthiness
International Journal of Social Economics
ISSN: 0306-8293
Article publication date: 15 August 2018
Issue publication date: 7 January 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of why people act trustworthily in anonymous non-repeated meetings where trustworthiness benefits the trustor and runs against the trustee’s material self-interest.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a survey originally developed by Bicchieri et al. (2011). The survey makes it possible to explore whether trustworthiness has a normative element. Is there a norm of trustworthiness that inflicts punishment for disobedience?
Findings
The participants in the experiment strongly believe that most people will punish untrustworthy behavior, lending support to the idea that trustworthiness is norm driven. The data provide little evidence for a parallel norm of trust.
Originality/value
The theory of repeated games explains how trust can emerge among players in ongoing interactions. But why do people choose to trust others who they do not know in non-ongoing interactions? The results offer an explanation. When trustors are aware that trustworthiness is rooted in norms, they have reason to expect trustees to act trustworthily. Then, it makes sense to trust since trustors will benefit from their trusting.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author of this paper has not made their research data set openly available. Any enquiries regarding the data set can be directed to the corresponding author.
Citation
Reiersen, J. (2019), "Drivers of trust and trustworthiness", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 46 No. 1, pp. 2-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-01-2018-0025
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited