Can I Trust You? Understanding the multiple facets of adolescent trust behavior

Research output: PhD ThesisPhD-Thesis - Research and graduation internal

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Abstract

Adolescence is an important developmental period for learning who can and cannot be trusted, and how to adapt one’s trust behavior in response to others’ reciprocal behavior. The main objective of this thesis was to create more insight into the development of adolescent trust behavior and to explain individual differences in trust behavior and the related neural activity. The development of initial trust behavior and the development of adaptive trust behavior were investigated. Furthermore, in the chapters described in this thesis, factors within the individual, e.g., gender, personality traits, symptoms of psychopathology, and perspective-taking abilities, and factors from one’s social environment, e.g., social embeddedness within social networks, were used to predict individual differences in trust behavior. Collectively, the results presented in this thesis indicate that adolescence is an important developmental period for trust behavior. First, increased levels of initial trust behavior were found throughout adolescence. Second, adolescents showed stronger adaptive trust behavior with age when interacting with untrustworthy others, and they showed age-related increases in average trust behavior when the partner behaved in a trustworthy manner. This suggests that learning who can be trusted and responding adaptively to the partner develops throughout adolescence. Adaptive trust behavior was also elicited by contextual factors, as adolescents showed they were able to overcome incorrect prior expectations about the partner and adjust their trust behavior in response to the partner’s actual behavior. The increased dlPFC and superior parietal gyrus activity that was found when interacting with this partner might tentatively suggest that cognitive control processes underlie these adaptive trust behavior processes. Furthermore, the results of this thesis indicated no support for a relationship between trust behavior and personality traits, symptoms of psychopathology, and perspective-taking abilities. The results did show that individual differences in adolescent trust behavior and the related neural activity can be explained by gender and the position within a social network. Boys showed a stronger developmental increase in initial trust behavior throughout adolescence compared to girls. Furthermore, the centrality of one´s social network position was positively related to levels of initial trust and to caudate activity, tentatively indicating increased expectancy violation when interacting with untrustworthy others.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationPhD
Awarding Institution
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Krabbendam, Lydia, Supervisor
  • Lee, Nikki, Co-supervisor
  • Braams, B.R. (Barbara), Co-supervisor
Award date13 Apr 2023
Place of Publications.l.
Publisher
Print ISBNs9789493315341
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Apr 2023

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