The Betrayal Aversion Elicitation Task: An Individual Level Betrayal Aversion Measure

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Decision Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Individual responses to risk are influenced by factors beyond probabilities and payoffs, including the element of trust betrayal.
• Existing research quantifies betrayal aversion at aggregate levels, but individual-level correlations with other preferences remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel task for measuring individual betrayal aversion.
• To investigate the relationship between an individual's betrayal aversion and their general risk preferences.

Main Methods:

• Development of a new experimental task to elicit individual levels of betrayal aversion.
• Comparison of betrayal aversion scores with established measures of risk aversion and non-social risk preferences.

Main Results:

• The new task successfully measures individual betrayal aversion, with aggregate results aligning with prior studies.
• No significant correlation was found between betrayal aversion and general risk aversion.
• Risk aversion showed a correlation with non-social risk preferences but not with the social, betrayal-related risk component.

Conclusions:

• Individual betrayal aversion is a distinct construct from general risk aversion.
• The developed task provides a feasible method for assessing individual differences in betrayal aversion.
• Understanding the nuances of social versus non-social risk preferences is crucial in decision-making research.