Trust and social reciprocity in adolescence--a matter of perspective-taking

J Adolesc. 2014 Feb;37(2):175-84. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.11.011. Epub 2013 Dec 25.

Abstract

Changes in social behaviour from childhood to adulthood have been suggested to be driven by an increased sensitivity to others' perspectives. Yet, the link between perspective-taking and social processes, such as trust and reciprocity, has rarely been investigated during adolescence. Using two trust games with a cooperative and an unfair counterpart and an online perspective-taking task with 50 adolescents, we show that those with a higher perspective-taking tendency demonstrate greater trust towards others and higher levels of trust during cooperative interactions. Both low and high perspective-takers adapted their levels of trust in response to unfair behaviour. However, high perspective-takers reduced their trust more drastically and showed more malevolent and less benevolent tit-for-tat when they were treated unfairly by their counterpart. The findings suggest that a higher perspective-taking tendency in adolescence is associated with specific mechanisms of trust and reciprocity, as opposed to undifferentiated increases in positive social behaviour towards others.

Keywords: Decision making; Perspective-taking; Social cognition; Theory of mind; Trust.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior / psychology*
  • Decision Making
  • Female
  • Game Theory
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Social Behavior*
  • Social Perception
  • Theory of Mind*
  • Trust*