Purpose: 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 (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 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