Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

2-11-2026

Journal

BMC Psychology

DOI

10.1186/s40359-026-04102-7

PMID

41673714

PMCID

PMC13005564

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

2-11-2026

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Humans, Punishment, Trust, Male, Group Processes, Female, Young Adult, Adult, Interpersonal Relations, Intergroup trust, Third-party, Third-party punishment, Third-party compensation, Group regulatory focus

Published Open-Access

yes

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.