The effect of subliminal priming on team trust: The mediating role of perceived trustworthiness

Jie Cai; Jie Cai; Jie Cai; Rongxiu Wu; Jingyu Zhang; Jingyu Zhang; Xianghong Sun; Xianghong Sun

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1099267

Frontiers in Psychology (Feb 2023)

The effect of subliminal priming on team trust: The mediating role of perceived trustworthiness

Jie Cai,
Jie Cai,
Jie Cai,
Rongxiu Wu,
Jingyu Zhang,
Jingyu Zhang,
Xianghong Sun,
Xianghong Sun

Affiliations

Jie Cai: CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
Jie Cai: Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Jie Cai: Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
Rongxiu Wu: Science Education Department, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
Jingyu Zhang: CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
Jingyu Zhang: Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Xianghong Sun: CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
Xianghong Sun: Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1099267
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14

Abstract

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The present study aimed to explore the effect of subliminal priming on team trust and the mechanism through the mediating role of perceived trustworthiness. A total of 144 participants were asked to complete a lexical decision task that was embedded with the “trust” or “suspicion” Chinese words as the subliminal stimuli. Then, they played a public good game and evaluated the perceived trustworthiness of the team. The results of the study showed that subliminal stimuli had a significant effect on team trust [β = –0.99, 95% CI = (−1.64, −0.33)]. Perceived trustworthiness was found to have a significant mediating effect between the priming condition and team trust [β = −0.35, 95% CI = (−0.72, −0.02)]. The current study revealed the underlying mechanism through which subliminal priming techniques influence team trust and informed efforts by altering perceived trustworthiness.

Published in Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN: 1664-1078 (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Philosophy. Psychology. Religion: Psychology
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology

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