When trust goes wrong: A social identity model of risk taking.
Tegan Cruwys, Katharine H. Greenaway, Laura J. Ferris, Joanne A. Rathbone, Alexander K. Saeri, Elyse Williams, Stacey L. Parker, Melissa X-L. Chang, Nicholas Croft, William Bingley, Laura Grace
Abstract
= 4,708) that use multiple methods including minimal group paradigms, correlational, longitudinal, and experimental designs to investigate the effect of shared social identity across diverse risk contexts. Studies 1 and 2 provided evidence for the basic premise of the model, showing that ingroup members were perceived as posing lower risk and inspired greater risk taking behavior than outgroup members. Study 3 found that social identification was a moderator, such that effect of shared group membership was strongest among high identifiers. Studies 4 and 5 among festival attendees showed correlational and longitudinal evidence for the model and further that risk-taking was mediated by trust, not disgust. Study 6 manipulated the mediator and found that untrustworthy faces were trusted more and perceived as less risky when they were ingroup compared with outgroup members. Studies 7 and 8 identified integrity as the subcomponent of trust that consistently promotes greater risk taking in the presence of ingroup members. The findings reveal that a potent source of risk discounting is the group memberships we share with others. Ironically, this means the people we trust the most may sometimes pose the greatest risk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).