*Getting Off on the Wrong Foot: Exploring the Restoration of Trust

J. Keith Murnighan
(with Robert B. Lount,  Niro Sivanathan, Jr. Chen-Bo Zhong)

Abstract

Few interpersonal relationships endure without one party violating the other's expectations. Thus, the ability to build trust and to restore cooperation after a breach is critical. This paper presents two experiments that investigated the effects of the timing of a trust breach - at the start of the interaction, after 5 or after 10 trials, or not at all - in an iterated prisoners' dilemma. The findings indicate that 'getting off on the wrong foot' has devastating long term consequences and that later trust breaches, although planting a seed of distrust, can be quickly overcome.