Gossip and the efficiency of interactions

Human communication often involves a large amount of gossiping about others. Here we study in an experiment whether gossip affects the efficiency of human interactions in an experimental trust game. Third parties can send unverifiable messages about a trustee's behavior to a trustor. We find th...

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Hauptverfasser: Fehr, Dietmar (VerfasserIn) , Sutter, Matthias (VerfasserIn)
Dokumenttyp: Article (Journal)
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: [January 2019]
In: Games and economic behavior
Year: 2018, Jahrgang: 113, Pages: 448-460
ISSN:1090-2473
DOI:10.1016/j.geb.2018.10.003
Online-Zugang:Verlag, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geb.2018.10.003
Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899825618301660
Volltext
Verfasserangaben:Dietmar Fehr, Matthias Sutter
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Human communication often involves a large amount of gossiping about others. Here we study in an experiment whether gossip affects the efficiency of human interactions in an experimental trust game. Third parties can send unverifiable messages about a trustee's behavior to a trustor. We find that this form of gossip increases trust and trustworthiness compared to a situation without a third party. However, a large part of this increase is due to the mere observation of trustees through third parties. In further control treatments we check the robustness of our findings by examining the effects of the information structure, costs or informational value of gossip.
Beschreibung:Available online 18 October 2018
Gesehen am 25.06.2019
Beschreibung:Online Resource
ISSN:1090-2473
DOI:10.1016/j.geb.2018.10.003