The Effect of Religious Identity on Trust: An Experimental Study Using the Trust Game

This bachelor’s thesis examines the influence of religious identity and gender on the level of trust in economic decision-making. The aim of the thesis is to analyze whether visual signaling of religious affiliation affects individuals’ willingness to invest financial resources within the experimental economic game “Trust Game” in the specific context of secularized Czech society. The theoretical part defines the concept of trust as an economic asset and summarizes the specific characteristics of secularized Czech society in the European context. The empirical part is based on an original experimental survey conducted among students at the Prague University of Economics and Business (n = 167), using visual stimuli (vignettes) generated by generative artificial intelligence. The data were evaluated using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis. The results did not demonstrate a statistically significant effect of the recipient’s religious identity on the amount invested, which can be interpreted as a consequence of the high degree of secularization in the Czech environment. However, the investor’s gender proved to be a highly significant factor, with men exhibiting, on average, a higher level of investment than women.