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Abstract of the presentation:
Interpersonal trust requires decisions under uncertainty (not risk!); the probability
of the other person reciprocating is unknown, and can at best be approached only
with a rough estimate. Therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to optimize these
decisions in rigorous and coherent ways. The use of social heuristics remains the
trustor’s best available means to come to a satisfactory decision. In this chapter, I
review the findings of a research project spanning a decade and a half. This work has identified a set of social heuristics people use (or should use) when deciding whether
to trust. Among these heuristics are social projection, social distance, all-or-nothing, and the general normative environment. This research is focused on one-shot decisions in experimental trust games, a context in which uncertainty is greatest.
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