Experimental support for a trust heuristic

Abstract Scholars have argued that trust acts as a decision-making heuristic, aiding people in assessing the risks of various technologies. This may be especially likely for social trust, or integrity (vs. calculative trust, or competence), and among people with limited experience with a given technology. The goal of this research is to provide an experimental test of the trust heuristic. In three experiments, which were identical except for the technology of focus (Study 1: autonomous vehicles, N = 1691; Study 2: nuclear power, N = 844; Study 3: airplane travel, N = 853), participants recruited from an online platform completed measures of trust, and then were randomly assigned to respond to measures of perceived risk in either a treatment (time pressure) or control condition. Competence and integrity were significantly negatively associated with risk perceptions. In Studies 1–2, the relationship between integrity (not competence) and risk was significantly stronger in the timed vs. untimed condition. However, Study 3, which focused on a context characterized by greater experience, did not find this effect. Results support the role of integrity, but not competence, as a decision-making heuristic, and suggest that greater levels of experience weaken the influence of integrity on risk.