Third-party effects on intergroup trust
The role of punishment/compensation and group regulatory focus
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15698108 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xiaowei Geng (0000-0001-5265-0679, Hangzhou Normal University), Jie Cui (0000-0002-5978-4861, Hangzhou Normal University), Jie Wang (0000-0003-3564-6808, Qilu University of Technology), Feng Zhang (0000-0002-7444-1103, Hangzhou Normal University), Wei Wang (0000-0001-5806-2368, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-11 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | BMC Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2050-7283 • E-ISSN: 2050-7283 |
| Publisher | BioMed Central (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1186/s40359-026-04102-7 |
| PMID | 41673714 |
| OpenAlex | W7128506379 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Intergroup trust refers to a collective prediction and belief among members of one group regarding those of another in intergroup interactions. It plays an important role in avoiding intergroup conflicts, and thereby sustaining social development. This study was designed to investigate the effects of third-party punishment and compensation, as well as group regulatory focus, on intergroup trust. The findings revealed that, at both individual and group levels, prevention-focused groups exhibited higher levels of intergroup trust than promotion-focused groups under third-party compensation conditions. In contrast, under the third-party punishment conditions, promotion-focused groups displayed greater trust than prevention-focused groups, although this difference was not statistically significant. Overall, this study demonstrates that third-party punishment is more effective in enhancing intergroup trust for promotion-focused groups, whereas third-party compensation is more effective for prevention-focused groups
Compensation (psychology · Focus group · Group (periodic table · Group conflict · In-group favoritism · Punishment (psychology · Regulatory focus theory · Social group · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Social and Intergroup Psychology
Trustworthiness and competitive altruism can also solve the “tragedy of the commons”
Parochial trust and cooperation across 17 societies
Regulatory Focus and Strategic Inclinations
An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust
Dynamic indirect reciprocity
The psychology of social impact
Improving implicit and explicit intergroup attitudes using imagined contact
Is Compensation Enough? Relational Concerns in Responding to Unintended Inequity
Promoting good decisions
Imagined contact encourages prosocial behavior towards outgroup members
Psychological mechanisms underlying ingroup favouritism in cooperation
Spill‐over effects of intermittent costs for defection in social dilemmas
Can we really reduce ethnic prejudice outside the lab? A meta‐analysis of direct and indirect contact interventions
Motivation by positive or negative role models
Performance incentives and means
The interactive effect of positive inequity and regulatory focus on work performance
Regulatory focus and investment decisions in small groups
Motivational bases of choice in experimental games
Unbounded indirect reciprocity
Delay discounting in dyads and small groups
Contagion or restitution? When bad apples can motivate ethical behavior
Emotional responses to goal attainment
High And Low Trusters' Responses To Fear in a Payoff Matrix
Why some groups just feel better
Signaling when no one is watching
Corrupt third parties undermine trust and prosocial behaviour between people
Experimental research on third-party intervention in conflict
Sequential Choice in Group Settings
| Highly cited | No |
|---|