The Effect of Social Perspective-Taking on Interpersonal Trust Under the Cooperative and Competitive Contexts: The Mediating Role of Benevolence

The Effect of Social Perspective-Taking on Interpersonal Trust Under the Cooperative and Competitive Contexts: The Mediating Role of Benevolence

Blog Article

Binghai Sun, Xiajun Yu, Xuhui Yuan, Changkang Sun, Weijian Li School of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xuhui Yuan; Changkang SunSchool of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, 688 Yingbin Avenue, Jinhua, 321004, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 1 803 745 9323; +86 1 351 692 8402Email 1254357485@qq.com; sun.changkang@qq.

comPurpose: Several studies have demonstrated that perspective-taking can foster interpersonal trust.However, few studies have explored the effect of social perspective-taking on interpersonal trust under a specific social context and its internal mechanism.The present study explored the effect of social perspective-taking on interpersonal trust and further examined this interaction under two different social contexts: a cooperative vs a competitive context.

We also explored why social perspective-taking fostered interpersonal trust.Methods: Study 1 (N = 45) was conducted using a within-subjects design in which participants were asked to read the dilemmas of two partners under two conditions (social perspective-taking vs objective focus) and complete the trust game after each reading.In Study 2 Fun and games (N = 135), we manipulated the social context by a word memorization task to explore the effect of social perspective-taking on interpersonal trust under different contexts (competitive vs cooperative).

In Study 3, we examined benevolence as a mediator in the relationship between social perspective-taking and interpersonal Dryer Vent trust.Results: Study 1 showed that interpersonal trust under the social perspective-taking condition was significantly higher than interpersonal trust under the objective focus condition.Study 2 showed that under the cooperative context, participants under the social perspective-taking condition invested more money to another partner than those under the objective focus condition.

However, under the competitive context, the results were the opposite.Study 3 demonstrated that benevolence mediated the relationship between social perspective-taking and interpersonal trust in both cooperative and competitive contexts.Conclusion: Social perspective-taking could improve interpersonal trust under a cooperative context, while the degree of interpersonal trust decreases under a competitive context.

Moreover, social perspective-taking could influence the perception of benevolence and thereby enhance or diminish interpersonal trust.Keywords: interpersonal trust, social perspective-taking, benevolence, cooperation, competition.