Title
Whom Do You Distrust and How Much Does it Cost? An Experiment on the Measurement of Trust
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Department 1
Management
Abstract
We advance the measurement of trust in economics in two ways. First, we highlight the importance of clearly identifying the target of trust, particularly for obtaining concordance between attitudinal and behavioral measures of trust. Second, we introduce a novel behavioral measure of (dis)trust, based on individualsʼ willingness to pay to avoid being vulnerable to the target of trust. We conduct an experiment in which we vary the target of trust among passersby at several locations around a city, measuring both behavioral distrust and trust attitudes towards these varying targets. We find that subjects discriminate based on perceived characteristics of different targets in determining whether to trust, in a manner consistent with trust elicited using attitudinal measures and with actual trustworthiness. Risk aversion and altruism do not correlate highly with our measure of distrust.
DOI
10.1016/j.geb.2011.06.011
Recommended Citation
McEvily, Bill, Joseph R. Radzevick, and Roberto A. Weber. “Whom Do You Distrust and How Much Does it Cost? An Experiment on the Measurement of Trust.” Games and Economics Behavior 74.1 (2012): 285-298.
Required Publisher's Statement
Original version is available from the publisher at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899825611001102