Abstract
Essays on Promises, Trust and Disclosure’ consists of three chapters. The
first chapter studies whether disclosure of advisors’ interests to advice
recipients can mitigate the problem of biased advice. The results of the
study suggest that deceptive advice and mistrust are equally frequent
with or without disclosure.
The second chapter reports on a study that tests whether people keep
their promises because they want their actions to be consistent with
their words irrespective of the effect of their promise on the person to
whom the promise is made. The results do not provide support for this
explanation of promise keeping. In addition, the results suggest that
the positive impact of communication on cooperation does not always
depend on promises.
The final chapter of the thesis studies how promises elicited by one’s
partner, as opposed to volunteered promises, affect behavior. No significant
differences in promise keeping rates between elicited and voluntary
promises are found. Nevertheless, the results also suggest that eliciting a
promise from one’s partner might be better than not eliciting it because
the latter might be perceived as a signal of mistrust and skepticism by
some people.
first chapter studies whether disclosure of advisors’ interests to advice
recipients can mitigate the problem of biased advice. The results of the
study suggest that deceptive advice and mistrust are equally frequent
with or without disclosure.
The second chapter reports on a study that tests whether people keep
their promises because they want their actions to be consistent with
their words irrespective of the effect of their promise on the person to
whom the promise is made. The results do not provide support for this
explanation of promise keeping. In addition, the results suggest that
the positive impact of communication on cooperation does not always
depend on promises.
The final chapter of the thesis studies how promises elicited by one’s
partner, as opposed to volunteered promises, affect behavior. No significant
differences in promise keeping rates between elicited and voluntary
promises are found. Nevertheless, the results also suggest that eliciting a
promise from one’s partner might be better than not eliciting it because
the latter might be perceived as a signal of mistrust and skepticism by
some people.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 25 Feb 2015 |
| Place of Publication | Tilburg |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 9789056684310 |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |