Distrust as a form of inequality

Abstract

Navigating social hierarchies is a ubiquitous aspect of human life. Social status shapes our thoughts, feelings, and actions toward others in various ways. However, it remains unclear how trust is conferred within hierarchies and how status-related cues are used when resources are on the line. This research fills this knowledge gap by examining how ascribed, consensus-based status appearance, and perceived status appearance impact investment decisions for high- and low-status partners during a Trust Game. In a series of pre-registered experiments, we examined the degree to which participants trusted unfamiliar others with financial investments when the only available information about that person was their socioeconomic status (SES). In Study 1, SES was ascribed. Studies 2 and 3 conveyed SES with visual antecedents (clothing). Across all three experiments, participants trusted high SES partners more than low SES partners. In addition, subjective perceptions of status based on visual cues were a stronger predictor of trust than consensus-based status judgments. This work highlights a high status-trust bias for decisions where an individual's money is on the line. In addition, high-status trust bias may occur simply because of an individual's subjective assumptions about another's rank.

Figure 1

Trust decisions as a function of partner status. Each dot represents a participant’s data point (red dots for when participants played with low-status partners and blue dots for when participants played with high-status partners). The y-axis represents the amount of money participants invested in their partners (our measure of trust). The effect size and the 95% confidence interval are displayed as a point estimate and vertical bar (black dot and line, respectively). There was greater money trusted to high-status partners compared to low-status ones.

Figure 2

Subjective status ratings of partners predicted trust. The y-axis represents the amount of money participants invested in their partners (our measures of trust). The x-axis is the participants subjective ratings of the partners’ status. Each blue dot represents a participant’s decision. The line represents the linear effect with the confidence interval around that estimate. Participants trusted partners more as their subjective perceptions of social status increased.

Figure 3

Subjective status ratings of partners predicted trust. The y-axis represents the amount of money participants invested in their partners (our measures of trust). The x-axis is the participants subjective ratings of the partners’ status. Each blue dot represents a participant’s decision. The line represents the linear effect with the confidence interval around that estimate. Participants trusted partners more as their subjective perceptions of social status increased.

Figure 4

Trust decisions as a function of consensus ratings of the attire status. Each dot represents a participants’ data point (red dots for when participants played with partners wearing low-status attire and blue dots for when participants played with partners wearing high-status attire). The y-axis represents the amount of money participants invested in their partners (our measures of trust). The effect size and the 95% confidence interval are displayed as a point estimate and vertical bar (black dot and line, respectively) There was greater money trusted to partners wearing high-status attire compared to low-status attire.

Figure 5

Trial sequence for the Trust Game. After a 1-s fixation, participants viewed a picture of their partner on top of a color background indicative of the partner’s status (low or high). Participants would see a face rather than a silhouette as pictured here. Participants then decided how much to share with this partner. After a 4-s blank screen, participants received feedback regarding their partner’s decision.