There were a total of 68 participants, and used an EEG. Participants had an average age of 33.66 years and ranged in age from 18 to 62 years of age. Thirty-six individuals were female, and 32 were male.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of three trust violation scenarios: ability violation, benevolence violation or integrity violation (i.e. an individual is not honest in their interactions with others). The participants were presented with one of three pre-recorded trust violation events (ability, benevolence or integrity) by the EEG technician. These were presented to the participants as though it were live. Each trust violation event lasted approximately 20s (conversation start to finish). There were a number of loud noises such as a door opening, which was used to heighten the realism of the recorded audio segment. EEG activity was used as an indicator of the neurological reaction to each trust violation.

The language used in the 3 experimental manipulations was designed to reflect the definitions of ability, benevolence and integrity.