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All about the money?
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Photo: Peter Israelevich
Dr Leah Borovoi
Photo: Peter Israelevich

Study: Israelis trust foreigners more

'Trust game' experiment shows Israelis find Germans, Americans more reliable than countryfolk

Though Israel was recently chosen as one of the least popular countries in the world - with just Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran ranking lower - stereotypes held by gentiles should be the least of the population's worries, according to a new survey.

 

A recent study examining trust between Israelis shows that residents of the Jewish state trust foreigners more than other Israelis.

 

The study was conducted by psychologist Dr. Leah Borovoi from the Open University. The 382 participates were instructed to play a 'trust game' in which each received NIS 100 ($27) and stood before three different people. The respondents only knew the origin of each of the three people: Israeli, American and German.

 

The participants were asked to send each of the three people a certain amount of money, intended to help measure his level of trust in that person. Any amount of money that was given was automatically multiplied by three and given back to the sender, so that if one of the participants decided to send NIS 50 ($13) to the German, then the German would have NIS 150 ($41) from which he would decide how much to send back to the participant.

 

"The amount the participant sent conveyed the level of trust he had for the receiver," said Borvoi. "The trust game is a behavioral index."

 

She explained that in an optimal situation you would send the full amount, NIS 100, to one person you really trust. "Then that person would have NIS 300 ($83), give you half and each of you would win NIS 150." In case you do not trust the person in front of you, you would not send him any money, leaving the entire NIS 100 in your hands.

 

Israelis want to seem more generous

According to the study, participants significantly trusted the Germans and Americans more than Israelis standing in front of them. Participants sent the Germans an average of NIS 65.11 ($18), Ameicans received NIS 63.11 ($17) and the Israeli only got NIS 49.05 ($13).

 

So why did the Israelis not trust their kind as much? "First and foremost it’s the trust stereotype – the Israeli sees German and American citizens as more trustworthy, at least when it comes to money," said Borvoi. "And another thing is their wish to present themselves as 'the generous Israeli', to create a more positive image."

 

In comparison to a similar study conducted in the United States, researchers found Israelis tend to sent more money to foreign citizens than to Americans.

 

"It's a simple conclusion – Israelis are 'not suckers' in our eyes, and so we put more trust in other groups, Germans and Americans, together with the desire to seem more generous and kind to foreigners," said Borvoi.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.09.11, 08:42
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