Beyond Belief: How Implicit Beliefs Influence Trust

31 Pages Posted: 24 Apr 2008

See all articles by Michael P. Haselhuhn

Michael P. Haselhuhn

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department

Maurice E. Schweitzer

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department

Laura Kray

Berkeley-Haas Management of Organizations; UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Date Written: April 15, 2008

Abstract

We demonstrate that implicit beliefs influence trust. In an experiment, we induced one of two types of implicit beliefs: entity beliefs about negotiation ability (a belief that negotiation ability is fixed over time), and incremental beliefs about negotiation ability (a belief that negotiation ability can change over time). We find that people induced with entity beliefs maintain trust in their counterpart even when they learn that their counterpart deceived them. Participants in the entity condition ignored and discounted negative information. Participants induced with incremental beliefs, however, significantly decreased trust in their counterpart when they learned that their counterpart had deceived them. In addition to changing how trust is harmed by violations, implicit beliefs are likely to influence the trust recovery process.

Keywords: trust, implicit beliefs, negotiation

Suggested Citation

Haselhuhn, Michael P. and Schweitzer, Maurice E. and Kray, Laura, Beyond Belief: How Implicit Beliefs Influence Trust (April 15, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1124591 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1124591

Michael P. Haselhuhn (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Maurice E. Schweitzer

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
215-898-4776 (Phone)
215-898-3664 (Fax)

Laura Kray

Berkeley-Haas Management of Organizations ( email )

545 Student Services Building
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

HOME PAGE: http://facultybio.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty-list/kray-laura

UC Berkeley Haas School of Business ( email )

545 Student Services Building, #1900
2220 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

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