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. 2011 Mar 14;6(3):e17725.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017725.

Beneficial betrayal aversion

Jason A Aimone  1 , Daniel Houser
Affiliations

Beneficial betrayal aversion

Jason A Aimone et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Many studies demonstrate the social benefits of cooperation. Likewise, recent studies convincingly demonstrate that betrayal aversion hinders trust and discourages cooperation. In this respect, betrayal aversion is unlike socially "beneficial" preferences including altruism, fairness and inequity aversion, all of which encourage cooperation and exchange. To our knowledge, other than the suggestion that it acts as a barrier to rash trust decisions, the benefits of betrayal aversion remain largely unexplored. Here we use laboratory experiments with human participants to show that groups including betrayal-averse agents achieve higher levels of reciprocity and more profitable social exchange than groups lacking betrayal aversion. These results are the first rigorous evidence on the benefits of betrayal aversion, and may help future research investigating cultural differences in betrayal aversion as well as future research on the evolutionary roots of betrayal aversion. Further, our results extend the understanding of how intentions affect social interactions and exchange and provide an effective platform for further research on betrayal aversion and its effects on human behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The Binary Trust Game.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Trust by Treatment.
Bars indicate the percentage of investors choosing the trust gamble.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Betrayal by Treatment.
Bars indicate the percentage of trustees choosing to betray trust.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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