The Emotional Basis of Trust | Research Capability & Technology Portfolio

Trust is grounded in emotional experience. Understanding the emotional basis of trust is key to not only building and maintaining it, but also repairing it when broken. A scientific approach in this domain yields deep insights into the nature of human behaviour.

Competitive advantage

Expertise in:

Identifying which emotions influence trust, and when they exert influence
Understanding the sources and consequences of emotional experiences
Studying interpersonal dynamics in the context of both novel and ongoing relationships
Building insights across individuals, groups, and organisations
Developing interventions to promote positive outcomes
Deploying a range of research designs, including experiments, field research, and longitudinal studies
Collecting and analysing complex datasets

Impact

Increased awareness of the emotional factors that influence trust across sectors of society
Improved relationship management
Enhanced policy development that appreciates the emotional basis of trust

Successful applications

Deploying interventions, grounded in empirical science, that serve to enhance individual or collective experience
Optimised communication strategies

Capabilities and resources

State-of-the-art technology facilities, including psychophysiological recording equipment and multi-angle video-recording capabilities
Behavioural paradigms deploying immersive virtual reality technology