Interpersonal Trust and Perceptual Vigilance for Trustworthiness Descriptors.

Abstract The effect of interpersonal trust on perceptual vigilance was examined in a tachistoscopic word recognition study. High and low trust subjects were presented personality descriptors varying specifically in their connotations of trust-worthiness. As hypothesized, low trusters had lower recognition thresholds (i.e. were more vigilant) for connotatively negative words than for either positive or neutral words, while high trusters had relatively constant thresholds. Further-more, low trusters were more vigilant than high trusters only for negative words. A manipulation intended to arouse subjects' suspicions about the experimenter was also examined. Subjects in the suspicion condition reviewed negative information about the experimenter's trustworthiness, while those in the control condition reviewed neutral information. Contrary to hypothesis, among low trusters the suspicion subjects had higher thresholds for all word groups than controls. Among high trusters, there were no condition effects. The results are interpreted, and their implications are considered.