Question

When your best friend does you an unexpected favor, you interpret it as a sincere sign of friendship, but if a coworker does you the same favor, you are more likely to wonder whether he or she has an ulterior motive. this is due to what influencing factor on interpretation?

Answer 1

I believe the answer is: Closeness of the relationship

People on average had a 'barrier' that we put when we socialize with other people. We would let people pass this barrier after they somehow earn our trust. From the example above, the coworkers haven't yet pass this barrier, which make us more likely to be suspicious on every gesture that those coworkers made (even if they are truly genuine)