Summary of What Human Behavior Teaches Us About Trust | Northwestern University

Main Ideas and Concepts:

Focus on Interpersonal Interactions: The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding normal human behavior in everyday situations and how people interact in small and large groups.
Game Theory: The speaker appreciates Game Theory for its formal and clear models, which illustrate how rational individuals interact. However, they note that traditional Game Theory does not account for emotions or behavioral nuances.
Research on Trust: The speaker's research centers on two key questions:
- How does Trust develop?
- What occurs when Trust is breached?
Trust Game: Introduced by economists in 1995, the Trust game is a model where two players interact, with player one deciding how much money to send to player two, which gets tripled. Player two then decides how much to return to player one. This setup explores the dynamics of Trust and reciprocity.
Factors Influencing Trust and Reciprocity:
- Player one's willingness to Trust and take risks influences player two's likelihood to reciprocate.
- Higher levels of Trust from player one lead to a stronger sense of obligation for player two to return a higher amount.
Types of Trust: The speaker discusses different dimensions of Trust:
- Affective Trust: Based on feelings and emotional connections.
- Cognitive Trust: Based on rational calculations and assessments.
The speaker expresses interest primarily in observable trusting behavior rather than just cognitive or emotional assessments.
Behavior Over Thoughts and Feelings: The speaker advocates for focusing on actual behaviors in Trust-related situations, arguing that actions are more telling than feelings or thoughts.

Methodology:

Trust Game Experiment:
- Player one receives an endowment (e.g., $10) and chooses how much to send to player two (from $0 to $10).
- The amount sent is tripled before reaching player two.
- Player two then decides how much to return to player one.

Conclusion:

The speaker emphasizes the importance of studying real behaviors in Trust dynamics, suggesting that understanding how people act in significant situations can provide deeper insights into Trust and interpersonal relationships.

Speakers/Sources Featured:

The speaker is a social psychologist from Northwestern University, although their name is not mentioned in the subtitles.

Notable Quotes

— 00:19 — « My whole approach is about interpersonal interactions. »

— 00:35 — « I love game theory because it's just beautiful formal clear theories with clear assumptions and clear outcomes and clear predictions. »

— 02:38 — « The more player one trusts, the more risks they take; the more player two reciprocates. »

— 04:06 — « For me, everything is about behavior. »

— 04:33 — « Let's just see what people do in important situations and I think that will be the telling factor. »