Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation investigated the role of trust in the process of managing personal uncertainty. Personal uncertainty is mostly experienced as an aversive state and individuals are therefore motivated to cope with their uncertainty about the self and social relationships. A central assumption underlying this research was that relational information (i.e., knowledge about the quality of social relationships) helps individuals cope with personal uncertainty. In particular, trust-related information was assumed to reduce personal uncertainty. Following from this notion, it was hypothesized that personal uncertainty renders individuals particularly sensitive to trust-related information. This sensitizing effect of uncertainty was assumed to be specific to relational information, such as trust, rather than being generally valid for all types of judgment-relevant information. Specifically, it was predicted that personal uncertainty does not increase individuals’ sensitivity to non-relational information. The outlined considerations were further explored in the light of previous research showing that uncertainty increases sensitivity to fairness. Based on the assumption that trust judgments often comprise more relational information than procedural fairness judgments, it was expected that individuals who feel personally uncertain more likely draw on trust information rather than on procedural fairness information to manage their uncertainty. A series of controlled laboratory experiments and field studies provides empirical support for these predictions. Results show that (a) trust-related information reduces personal uncertainty; (b) personal uncertainty increases individuals’ sensitivity to trust; (c) this sensitizing effect is specific to information that is relevant for managing uncertainty, namely relational information; and (d) trust is a particularly valuable type of relational information and plays a central role in dealing with uncertainty. Together, the current findings highlight the importance of trust-related information in the process of uncertainty management.
Source: MADOC (University of Mannheim)
Author: Jana Janßen
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2300914168