The effect of interpersonal trust on trustees' deception: the moderating role of the need for cognitive closure

Deception, as pervasive unethical behavior, has a wide range of destructive impacts on society. From an interpersonal interaction perspective, this study investigates whether interpersonal trust would inhibit trustees' deception and whether trustees' Need for Cognitive Closure (NFCC) would moderate the effect of interpersonal trust. Study 1 (N = 53) employed a between-subjects design, focusing on interpersonal trust as the independent variable, categorized into high-trust and low-trust groups. The experiment began with the manipulation of interpersonal trust levels, followed by the measure of deception using a dice-rolling task. Study 2 (N = 66) concentrated on individual differences, specifically examining how NFCC moderates the relationship between interpersonal trust and deception. The findings indicated that interpersonal trust significantly inhibited deception. Moreover, NFCC was found to play a crucial moderating role. Those with a lower NFCC exhibited an enhanced inhibitory effect of interpersonal trust on deception. These results highlight the complex interplay between interpersonal trust and deception, offering important insights for the development of targeted interventions aimed at preventing deceptive practices.