Attributions of trust and the calculus of reciprocity

This research investigated trust and reciprocity in two experiments using the Trust Game. In the Trust Game, Player I can "trust" an unknown Player 2 by sending some portion of a monetary endowment. The amount sent triples on its way to Player 2, who can then "reciprocate" by returning as much as he or she wishes to Player 1. Initial endowments were either $10 or $20 and were known to recipients; amounts sent were experimentally manipulated and varied from $2 to the entire endowment. Although many trusted parties returned enough money to equalize outcomes, trustors only benefited, on average, when they sent all or almost all of their endowments. Results suggested that recipients viewed sending less than everything as a lack of trust and that felt obligations mediated choices to reciprocate. These and other results contrast markedly with traditional, incremental models of the trust process, which suggest that initial trustors should take small risks and build trust gradually. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.