Impression management attenuates the effect of ability on trust in economic exchange

Martin Reimann, Christoph Hüller, Oliver Schilke and Karen S. Cook
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Martin Reimann: a Eller College of Management, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721;
Christoph Hüller: a Eller College of Management, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721;
Oliver Schilke: a Eller College of Management, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721;
Karen S. Cook: b Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 30, e2118548119

Abstract: It is often assumed that competent actors are trusted, but is this always true? In this report, we test the position that impression management decreases the amount of trust competent actors receive. Employing a variety of experimental paradigms and measures and confirming predictions based on attribution theory, we demonstrate that impression management can substantially backfire, at least for competent actors, and that this effect can be explained by decreases in perceived benevolence and integrity. Our findings make important contributions to the literatures on trust, status, and impression management.

Keywords: trust; impression management; ability; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nas:journl:v:119:y:2022:p:e2118548119

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