Impression management attenuates the effect of ability on trust in economic exchange.

ABSTRACT: Are competent actors still trusted when they promote themselves? The answer to this question could have far-reaching implications for understanding trust production in a variety of economic exchange settings in which ability and impression management play vital roles, from succeeding in one's job to excelling in the sales of goods and services. Much social science research assumes an unconditional positive impact of an actor's ability on the trust placed in that actor: in other words, competence breeds trust. In this report, however, we challenge this assumption. Across a series of experiments, we manipulated both the ability and the self-promotion of a trustee and measured the level of trust received. Employing both online laboratory studies (n = 5,606) and a field experiment (n

SUBMITTER: Reimann M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9335184 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature