Reasoning About Trust Among Individuals With Williams Syndrome

Abstract The present study examines whether individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) might indiscriminately trust in others, as is suggested by their strong tendency to approach and interact with strangers. To assess this possibility, adults with WS (N = 22) and typical development (N = 25) were asked to reason about the trustworthiness of people who lie to avoid getting in trouble versus to avoid hurting others' feelings. Findings indicated that participants with WS distrusted both types of liars and made little distinction between them. These results suggest that the high level of social approach behavior in individuals with WS cannot be explained in terms of indiscriminate trust.