Household Wealth is Associated With Perceived Trustworthiness
in a Diverse Set of Countries

Mélusine Boon-Falleur (Sciences Po - CRIS)
Jean-Baptiste André (CNRS, ENS-PSL)
Daniel Nettle (CNRS, Institut Jean Nicod)

Social Psychological and Personality Science

First published November 11th, 2024

https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241289461 (Sage Journals)

Interpersonal trust (a person’s belief that another person will act consistently with their expectations of positive behavior) impacts societal and individual outcomes, affecting economic growth, democracy, and well-being.In modern societies, people often trust strangers with many responsibilities, such as sellers trusting buyers with the payment of bills, parents trusting caretakers with their children, and taxpayers trusting the honesty of welfare recipients.

Trust levels vary both within and across countries, raising the question of what factors influence interpersonal trust. Existing research indicates that an individual’s socioeconomic status influences their level of trust, with wealthier individuals tending to be more trusting.

This article examines a further effect of wealth on interpersonal trust, namely whether people perceive wealthier individuals as more trustworthy.

Using a novel method for uncovering stereotypes while avoiding social desirability bias, the authors investigate whether wealth cues are associated with the perceived trustworthiness of targets.

The study, conducted with 916 participants across different cultures (Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, France, Nigeria, Philippines, and the United Kingdom), consistently demonstrates that people in a diverse set of countries perceive inhabitants of wealthier households to have a more cooperative character and more self-control. The findings show that wealth stereotypes about trustworthiness appear to be culturally widespread and are independent of the participant’s social class. The authors found a stronger relationship between wealth and perceived character than behavior.

Overall, the study provides the first evidence that cues of material wealth are used similarly by people across cultures and income levels to infer trustworthiness. These findings suggest that there are universal negative stereotypes about the poor, independently from culture-specific beliefs.