Predictability and the Logic of Perceived Appropriateness: How Expressed Emotions Influence Trust
Year: 2020
Type: preprint
Abstract: Across eight studies, we describe how emotional expressions interact with contextual cues to signal benevolent predictability and influence trust. We identify context as an important moderator of the relationship between emotional expressions and trust. Absent contextual cues, negative emotional expressions harm trust, but negative emotional expressions that are congruent with contextual cues boost trust. Similarly, happy expressions boost trust when they are accompanied by joyful contextual cues, but not by sad, angry, or neutral cues; angry expressions boost trust when they are accompanied by angry contextual cues, but by not joyful or neutral cues; sad emotional expressions boost trust when they are accompanied by sad contextual cues, but not by joyful or neutral cues. In linking emotional expressions and trust, we develop a theoretical framework that incorporates the logic of appropriateness and benevolent predictability to broaden our understanding of the antecedents of trust.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Authors: Polly Kang, Maurice E. Schweitzer
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3180063200