# The effect of leadership, emotional stability, and expertise marker on swift trust in first aid: a text-vignette study

## TL;DR

This study explores how leadership style, emotional stability, and signs of expertise influence trust during first aid situations.

## Contribution

The study investigates the effect of an expertise marker on swift trust in first aid, extending prior findings on leadership and emotional stability.

## Key findings

- There is an interaction effect between leadership behavior, emotional stability, and the expertise marker on swift trust.
- Autocratic leadership and emotional stability positively affect swift trust in first aid.
- Expertise markers enhance trust when paired with clear leadership and emotional stability.

## Abstract

Autocratic leadership and emotional stability have been found to evoke more swift trust in a first aid context. However, it is still unknown how markers of emergency response expertise affect swift trust in this context. The current study aimed to partially replicate the effect of autocratic leadership and emotional stability and investigate the effect of an expertise marker on swift trust in first aid. Swift trust was measured in text vignettes of a first aid scenario with a 2×2 design (autocratic leadership and emotional stability versus democratic leadership and emotional instability, and presence versus absence of emergency response expertise marker). The results show an interaction effect between leadership behavior and emotional stability with the expertise marker. This suggests that people giving first aid while wearing an expertise marker are expected to show clear and direct leadership and emotional stability for increased swift trust. The positive effect of autocratic leadership and emotional stability on swift trust was also replicated. Future work should investigate more diverse first aid scenarios that are found in real-life first aid.