Universität zu Köln

Fetchenhauer, Detlef ORCID: 0000-0002-5469-471X, Dunning, David ORCID: 0000-0002-4565-1208, Ehlebracht, Daniel ORCID: 0000-0003-3756-9906, Graczyk, Thomas ORCID: 0000-0002-8339-3350 and Schlösser, Thomas ORCID: 0000-0003-2685-6221 (2025). Behavioral Trust in Competence Versus Morality: Experimental Evidence of Differences and Similarities. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 38 (4). pp. 1-21. Wiley. ISSN 0894-3257

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Abstract

[Artikel-Nr.: e70037] Life is full of decisions about whether to trust other people. At a cognitive level, people can be skeptical about another person's trustworthiness but are averse to signaling their suspicions at a behavioral level. This phenomenon of “principled trustfulness” has been documented for trust implicating the moral character of another person but not explored for cases involving their competence. We introduce a new game‐theoretical paradigm, the competence game, in which participants can bet money on whether an interaction partner will pass an intelligence test, thus placing trust in their partner's competence. Across four studies ( N = 3337 participants analyzed, each making a decision to risk), we compared behavior in competence games and traditional trust games, which focus on moral choice and lottery gambles. In competence games, participants were significantly less likely to trust their interaction partner than in trust games even if the pay‐off structure and likelihood of reaching a positive outcome were identical. Thus, trust in competence is not as principled to the same degree as trust in moral character but seems to be approached more like a self‐interested investment decision.

Item Type:	Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Fetchenhauer, Detlef UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5469-471X UNSPECIFIED Dunning, David UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4565-1208 UNSPECIFIED Ehlebracht, Daniel UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3756-9906 UNSPECIFIED Graczyk, Thomas UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8339-3350 UNSPECIFIED Schlösser, Thomas UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2685-6221 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-805648
Identification Number:	10.1002/bdm.70037
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Behavioral Decision Making
Volume:	38
Number:	4
Page Range:	pp. 1-21
Number of Pages:	21
Date:	4 October 2025
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0894-3257
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Sociology and Social Psychology > Department of Economic and Social Psychology
Subjects:	Psychology Economics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language competence | competence game | morality | trust | trust game English
['eprint_fieldname_oa_funders' not defined]:	Publikationsfonds UzK
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/80564