What is it about?
Interpersonal trust is a complex thing to judge. When judging whether we can trust an acquaintance to drop off an important letter for us, for example, we could try to take into account everything we know about the person, which could take a while. Alternatively, we could just ask, "How do I feel about trusting this person?" If trusting this person feels like the right thing to do, we may judge that we can trust the person. Feelings of rightness can come from many things, not just our thoughts about whatever it is we are judging. An experience that can increase feelings of rightness is regulatory fit, which happens when we have just done something in a way that feels right. The feeling of rightness from regulatory fit can carry over to affect subsequent judgments, such as judgments about how much we can trust an acquaintance.
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Why is it important?
This research is important because it shows one way that people can simplify complex judgments about how much to trust another person. It is also important because it shows that regulatory fit can influence interpersonal judgments.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a great pleasure, and I am proud of my co-authors. Audrey Harkness has since earned a PhD in counseling psychology, and Emily Clark has since earned a PhD in social psychology.
Professor Leigh Ann Vaughn
Ithaca College
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Effect of Regulatory Fit on Interpersonal Trust, January 2009, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/e566962012-289.
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