What Drives Gender Differences in Trust and Trustworthiness?

Abstract

This study examines the underlying factors that drive gender differences in trust and trustworthiness. Is gender difference in trust behavior motivated by variations in social context and gender norms? I study this question by conducting trust experiments in comparable and neighboring matrilineal and patrilineal societies in India. I find that the matrilineal subjects are more trusting than the patrilineal ones, although there is substantial heterogeneity across gender. In the matrilineal society, men are significantly more trusting but no more trustworthy than women, while in the patrilineal society, men are neither more trusting nor more trustworthy than women. My findings thus suggest that societal structure is crucially linked to the observed gender differences in trust and trustworthiness.