Recent research indicates that segregation is, in addition to many other undesirable consequences, negatively associated with social capital, in particular, generalized trust within a community. This study investigates whether an individual's residential neighborhood and the stereotypes associated with this neighborhood affect others’ trusting behavior as a specific form of social exchange. Using an anonymous trust game experiment in the context of five districts of the German capital, Berlin, we show that trusting is contingent on others’ residential neighborhood rather than on deliberate assessments of trustworthiness. Participants show significantly greater trust toward individuals from positively stereotyped neighborhoods with favorable sociodemographic characteristics than to persons from negatively stereotyped neighborhoods with unfavorable sociodemographics. Importantly, when stereotypes and sociodemographic factors point in opposite directions, participants’ trust decisions reflect stereotype content.
An experimental study of the repeated trust game with incomplete information
