Study of trust rebuilding process at information providing scene

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24530805
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry
• Principal Investigator: KOSUGI Motoko 一般財団法人電力中央研究所, 社会経済研究所, 主任研究員 (20371221)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 情報の非対称 / 信頼 / 情報提供 / 監視

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study is to clarify the factors that contribute to building information superiority party’s trust in inferior party in the ongoing two-party relationship with information asymmetry. Two experiments had conducted and revealed the following three points.
1) As regards an option to monitor the behavior of the information superiority, the use of high frequency functions as a signal of inferiority’s distrust in superiority party, to reduce trust between the superiority and inferiority. On the other hand, use of low frequency maintains the superior’s trust level. 2) If it is recognized that the inferior party is a legitimate agent of monitoring, use of the option does not mean distrust in the superior party, but rather there is a possibility to increase the trust. 3) Monitoring by the third party with legitimacy, has the effect of increasing the trust in the information superiority’s inferior party. However, this effect was confirmed only in female participants.

Free Research Field

社会心理学