Trust and mixed signals : a study of religion, tattoos and cognitive dissonance

Abstract

This paper examines trust judgements in the context of ‘mixed signals’, whereby the medium through which a signal is projected suggests untrustworthiness, but the signal itself suggests trustworthiness. Under conditions of ‘mixed signals’, trusters are left in a potential state of cognitive dissonance. The results of the research suggest that the presence of a tattoo lowers evaluations of trust across the board, but that Christian respondents rated faces with a Christian-themed tattoo significantly higher than non-Christian respondents. Nevertheless, among Christian respondents, there was no significant difference on trustworthiness ratings between a Christian-themed tattoo and non-Christian-themed tattoo. The results of the research have implications in relation to the psychological study of trust, religion and body art.