Defining Trust across Cultures: A Prototype Approach

In this study, we applied a prototype approach for a better understanding of the concept of “trust in work relations”. Trust has been the focal interest of many scholars from a variety of disciplines for a long time.... [ view full abstract ]

In this study, we applied a prototype approach for a better understanding of the concept of “trust in work relations”. Trust has been the focal interest of many scholars from a variety of disciplines for a long time. However, complaints about the lack of an agreed upon definition or conceptualization of trust have been widespread and ongoing. Furthermore, although a number of scholars have offered frameworks to understand trust across cultures, these attempts have been criticized for assuming that trust, its theorized antecedents, outcomes and their operationalizations to be universal. We report the results of two studies conducted in three cultures, namely, Singapore, Turkey and the United States (US). These studies sought to examine the lay prototypes associated with the concept of “trust in work relations” with the aim of shedding some light to the confusion around the construct as well as identifying its potentially universal versus culture-specific features. Results indicate considerable similarity in the central and peripheral features of the construct across cultures.