Abstract:

Characteristic perception and relationship perception are the two important factors which influence the interpersonal trust. These two factors exert diverse effects in the different cultural contexts due to the different Chinese and Western cultural backgrounds. By reviewing the related previous research findings, this paper indicates that the research on the influence of relationship perception on interpersonal trust should not be restricted on the effect of “closeness relationship”. In the future studies of understanding Chinese interpersonal trust, researchers should further investigate the relationship schema which can reflects the essence of Chinese social relationship – “class relationship”. What’s more, we should pay more attention to explore and discusse fatherly the effect of class relationship perception on Chinese interpersonal trust, which might reflect the core architecture of Chinese social relations. It supposes that relationship perception, especially class relation perception, might regulate the effect of characteristic perception on Chinese interpersonal trust.

Key words: interpersonal trust, characteristic perception, relationship perception, closeness relationship, class relationship