Abstract

The study examined the influence of culture to trust-building. It also identified the relationship among social categorization, trust as a psychological state, and trusting behavior. The main theoretical frameworks were individualism-collectivism concept and social indentity theory. A variance of social dilemma game was developed as a mean to observe group interaction in the Indonesian workgroups and in the German workgroups (N Indonesian = 221; N German =181), and to measure trusting behavior in the groups. Results showed that culture has a significant effect on trustbuilding within the groups. When individuals believed in trustworthiness of their interactive partners, the influence of social categorization was reduced. Social categorization played a mediation effect in both workgroups. However, Indonesian workgroups tended to show in group bias, German workgroups does not show this phenomenon