From Initial to Situational Automation Trust: The Interplay of Personality, Interpersonal Trust, and Trust Calibration in Young Males
DOI: 10.3390/bs16020176
URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12937617/pdf/
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Summary
Tang, Lu & You (Behavioral Sciences, 2026) ran a driving simulator experiment with N=30 young male participants under three SAE levels (manual L0, partial automation L2 requiring monitoring, full automation L4) while collecting eye tracking (fixations and pupillometry), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Interpersonal Trust Scale. They distinguish stable individual differences, initial trust (Trust in Automation scale before driving), and situational trust (during the task). Semi-automation produced higher hazard detection sensitivity (d' = 0.81) but greater pupillary cost (eta-p^2 = 0.445) than manual driving. Mediation analysis showed neuroticism predicted initial trust via interpersonal trust. Despite lower initial trust, high-interpersonal-trust drivers had slower reaction times in L2 (B = 0.60, p = 0.035), revealing a 'social complacency' effect.
Key finding
Trust in automation calibrates across personality, initial expectations, and situation-specific gaze/behavior, with high interpersonal trust producing a 'wary but complacent' young-male driver who has slower reaction times in semi-automation despite reporting low initial trust.
Methodology
simulator
Sample size: 30
Quality score: 5 / 5