Location
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
7-1-2025 12:00 AM
End Date
10-1-2025 12:00 AM
Description
Popular theories of trust note the importance of risk in the trust process. However, real-world risk is not homogenous: one party may stand to lose more (or less) based on the actions of another, and the degree of this asymmetry may change. The present research focused on comparative vulnerability and risk discrepancy between parties in a novel task. The study investigated their moderating effects on the trust process through the lens of exchange theory. Participants were recruited online to participate in a novel task designed to emulate real-world constraints present in computer-mediated ad hoc dyads. The results showed that in several cases, relative vulnerabilities and the extent of risk discrepancy moderated the effect of partner behaviors on trust-relevant criteria. This work is a step toward quantifying the effects of changing comparative vulnerability and risk discrepancy on the trust process and has implications for distributed dyads.
Recommended Citation
Capiola, August; Alarcon, Gene; Hamdan, Izz Aldin; Jessup, Sarah; Ryan, Tyler; Johnson, Dexter; and Panson, David, "What do I (and You) Have to Lose? Investigating Effects of Risk Asymmetry on the Trust Process in Distributed Dyads" (2025). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 (HICSS-58). 4.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/os/trust/4
What do I (and You) Have to Lose? Investigating Effects of Risk Asymmetry on the Trust Process in Distributed Dyads
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
Popular theories of trust note the importance of risk in the trust process. However, real-world risk is not homogenous: one party may stand to lose more (or less) based on the actions of another, and the degree of this asymmetry may change. The present research focused on comparative vulnerability and risk discrepancy between parties in a novel task. The study investigated their moderating effects on the trust process through the lens of exchange theory. Participants were recruited online to participate in a novel task designed to emulate real-world constraints present in computer-mediated ad hoc dyads. The results showed that in several cases, relative vulnerabilities and the extent of risk discrepancy moderated the effect of partner behaviors on trust-relevant criteria. This work is a step toward quantifying the effects of changing comparative vulnerability and risk discrepancy on the trust process and has implications for distributed dyads.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/os/trust/4