Connected strangers : manipulating social perceptions to study trust
Name
656285434-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
13.43 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
47476a0d1bf5726412924088efc0c626
Author(s)
Pao, Sheng-Ying (Sheng-Ying Aithne)
Advisor(s)
Deb K Roy.
Date Issued
2010
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Economic views of trust, grounded in repeated game theory and behavioral economics experiments, largely ignore social factors such as personal relationships between subjects. In this study, we designed a new experimental procedure, the "Social Lending Game", in which aspects of trust are measured as a function of differing social contexts. The procedure harnesses real-world social relationships while keeping subjects' identities confidential. We developed relationship mining methods that categorize social connections into trustful ties, distrustful ties, and neutral ties. Subjects in the Social Lending Game were led to believe they were paired up with a stranger with real social connections to them. The perceived social connections were systematically manipulated to different types and strengths of social ties to measure the effect of social perception on trusting behavior. Surprisingly, we found that people trust strangers as much as they trust a friend's friend. In contrast, people distrust strangers when they are told that there exists no social connection to the strangers. These methods and results point to a number of future research topics that leverage social networks to reinvestigate utility theory, trust-based decisions and risk-taking behaviors in social contexts.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Subjects
Architecture. Program in Media Arts and Sciences.
MIT Department
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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