When betrayal works in our favor: New UCLA study reveals the complexity of trust

fizkes // Shutterstock Would you trust someone who betrayed others–if it worked in your favor? New research challenges conventional wisdom about trust and betrayal, finding that people may still trust someone who has betrayed others if they personally benefit from the betrayal, LA Post reports The study, published in Evolution and Human Behavior by psychologists from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Oklahoma State University, reveals that while people generally view betrayers as untrustworthy, they make exceptions when the betrayal works in their favor. “Making decisions about whom to trust based only on whether that person has betrayed someone else might not be the best way to determine whether or not I can trust someone,” said Jaimie Krems, study co-author and UCLA professor of psychology. The research team conducted experiments examining how people evaluate trustworthiness in various relationships, including friendships, romantic partnerships, and professional contexts. Their findings suggest that judgment of trustworthiness depends on a person’s past behavior and how their actions affect the person making the assessment. Krems illustrated this concept with an example: “Think about that friend who always tells you other friends’ secrets but does not share yours. This friend is betraying other people but enriching you with information.” The researchers designed three distinct experiments to test their hypothesis. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three vignettes describing their interaction with a target in each experiment. One experiment focused on secret-sharing among friends, while another examined romantic infidelity. A third scenario placed participants in the role of CIA agents attempting to develop a relationship with a French official as an intelligence source. In the vignettes, targets exhibited one of three behaviors: they did not betray anyone when they had the opportunity, they betrayed another person to the participant, or they betrayed the participant to someone else. After reading these scenarios, participants rated the target’s trustworthiness on a seven-point scale, responding to questions such as “I would trust the target to keep my secrets.” The results showed a consistent pattern across all relationship types. Participants gave higher trustworthiness ratings to individuals who demonstrated loyalty by not betraying anyone. However, when the betrayal benefited the participant directly, they rated the betrayer as similarly trustworthy, despite knowing about their capacity for disloyalty. This finding held true whether the scenario involved sharing confidential information among friends, romantic relationships, or professional intelligence gathering. The research suggests people’s assessments of trustworthiness are not solely based on moral character but are influenced by self-interest and personal benefit. The study builds on previous research indicating that trust decisions are typically influenced by a person’s reputation and past behavior. The researchers’ said their main contention was while the mind should be attuned to whether someone has a reputation for betrayal, it should also consider how someone’s betrayal affects the individual making the assessment. The study’s implications extend beyond personal relationships into professional and organizational contexts, where trust and loyalty play crucial roles in decision-making and relationship-building. The findings show that while people might start with lofty ideals when it comes to trusting people, what they do in practice is often based more on self-interest. The research team emphasized that their findings upheld their hypothesis that judgments of trustworthiness partly reflect the person’s disposition and idiosyncratic factors specific to the participant and the person at hand. This story was produced by the LA Post and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.