Trust as an adaptive strategy: Symmetry of social intelligence of high-trusters and low-trusters

Abstract

Four studies examined findings by Kosugi & Yamagishi (1998) that high-trusters presented with negative information about others exhibit a more pronounced response than do low-trusters presented with the same information. Survey 1 showed that the general trust scale used by Kosugi & Yamagishi (1998) did not provide an appropriate index for the investigation of the relationship between people’s general trust level and the patterns of their responses to information about others’ trustworthiness. Given the results of survey 1, two experiments and a mail survey were conducted using a different measure of general trust. The results demonstrated that low-trusters were strongly affected by positive information about others and quickly express an inclination to trust the target individuals. The findings of the three studies illustrate that the responses of high-trusters and low-trusters form a symmetric pattern, and each group’s strategy can be interpreted as an adaptation that helps to increase actors’ opportunities to interact with others.View full abstract