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Trust development as an expectancy-learning process: Testing contingency effects
Guy Bosmans1, Theodore E A Waters2, Chloe Finet1,2
1Clinical Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium.
Plos One
|December 12, 2019
Summary
Trust in caregivers develops through learning that support is reliably available. This expectancy-learning process explains how children develop secure attachment and seek help when needed.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Attachment Theory
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Secure attachment, characterized by trust in parental support and help-seeking behavior, originates from sensitive parenting during distress.
- The precise developmental mechanisms underlying the formation of trust in attachment relationships are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that trust is formed via an expectancy-learning process, contingent on the reliability of caregiver support.
- To explore the developmental pathway from caregiver support contingency to trust and subsequent help-seeking behaviors.
Main Methods:
- A novel experimental paradigm was created where participants interacted with a novel caregiver providing problem-solving assistance.
- The contingency (probability of positive support outcome) of the caregiver's help was systematically manipulated.
- Participant trust in the caregiver and their willingness to seek help were measured across three independent samples.
Main Results:
- The results supported the hypothesis, indicating that trust and help-seeking behaviors are indeed outcomes of an expectancy-learning process.
- A significant relationship was found between the manipulated contingency of caregiver support and participants' developed trust and help-seeking.
Conclusions:
- Trust and the propensity to seek support are learned through an expectancy-based mechanism, where the reliability of support is a key factor.
- These findings offer a mechanistic explanation for the development of secure attachment and have implications for attachment theory.
- The study highlights the role of learning processes in the formation of relational expectancies crucial for social development.
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