Trust and trustworthiness across different age groups

We examine the degree of trust and trustworthiness in an experimental trust game with 662 participants from six different age groups, ranging from 8-year-olds to retired persons. Although both trust and trustworthiness have been identified as fundamental pillars for efficient economic interactions,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Games and economic behavior 2007-05, Vol.59 (2), p.364-382
Main Authors: Sutter, Matthias, Kocher, Martin G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Age groups
Credibility
Difference
Economic cooperation
Economic theory
Experiment
Experiments
Game theory
Inequity aversion
Interpersonal relations
Reciprocity
Studies
Trust
Trustworthiness
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Summary:We examine the degree of trust and trustworthiness in an experimental trust game with 662 participants from six different age groups, ranging from 8-year-olds to retired persons. Although both trust and trustworthiness have been identified as fundamental pillars for efficient economic interactions, economic research has devoted little attention to measuring their strength in different age groups. In our experiment subjects interact with members of the same age group. We find that trust increases almost linearly from early childhood to early adulthood, but stays rather constant within different adult age groups. Trustworthiness prevails in all age groups.
ISSN:0899-8256
1090-2473
DOI:10.1016/j.geb.2006.07.006