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

Abstract

Explored the effects of 2 types of interpersonal trust: general trust and specific trust, on cooperative choices n 2-person prisoner's dilemma game, and examined the role of pre-experimental communication in development of trust. 80 college students were given 10 points at the beginning of every trial and then made the decision to contribute all the points to the benefit of the pair (i.e., cooperate) or not (i.e., defect). Results reveal (1) the effects of 2 types of trust were contingent upon opportunity for communication, (2) communication type strongly affected specific trust towards the partner with whom communication had taken place, and (3) uncooperative communication contributed to the cooperation rates indirectly through specific trust towards the communicated partner, whereas cooperative communication explained the cooperation rates directly. The possibility of specific trust becoming generalized toward general trust is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)