Interpersonal distance adjustments after interactions with a generous and selfish trustee during a repeated trust game

Autor(en)
Lisa Anna Rosenberger, Michael Naef, Christoph Eisenegger, Claus Lamm
Abstrakt

How physically close to an individual we choose to stand—our interpersonal distance preference—is thought to closely reflect the trust placed in the individual. However, the exact relationship between interpersonal distance and trust is not well understood and the causal effects of trust on interpersonal distance have not yet been demonstrated and quantified experimentally. Here, we induced trust (vs distrust) in an interaction partner through generous (vs selfish) monetary transactions in a repeated trust game. Subjects' investments in, experienced trust in, and expected back-transfers from the two interaction partners indicated that they learned to distrust more the selfish (vs generous) interaction partner. Further, across two experiments, using a pre-post design in which interpersonal distance preferences were measured before and after the trust game, preferred reflective and reflexive interpersonal distance from the selfish interaction partner increased, whereas interactions with the generous partner did not change these preferences. Importantly, the post-game distance was associated with subjects' experienced trust in the selfish interaction partner, and not their monetary decisions made during the game. These findings are a starting point for our understanding of how interactions with untrusted others can be successful. We speculate that an increased interpersonal distance might be accompanied by an increased psychological distance (e.g. through impersonal communication), which might help prevent a break-down of an interaction with a distrusted partner.

Organisation(en)
Fakultät für Psychologie, Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden
Externe Organisation(en)
University of London
Journal
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Band
90
Anzahl der Seiten
9
ISSN
0022-1031
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104001
Publikationsdatum
09-2020
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
501021 Sozialpsychologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/interpersonal-distance-adjustments-after-interactions-with-a-generous-and-selfish-trustee-during-a-repeated-trust-game(f6fa20aa-b81d-40d5-af5d-9853524090c2).html