Risk-Taking That Signals Trust Increases Social Identification

Abstract

Social identification predicts many important phenomena; however, its determinants have received comparably little research attention. We argue that people are more likely to socially identify with others who engage in risky behavior that implies trust than with those who act cautiously, and test this in four experiments with over 900 participants. The experiments found support for the hypotheses across diverse risk contexts - specifically, risk of physical injury, disease risk, and financial risk. These findings indicate that others' risk taking can strengthen shared psychological group membership.