Intercultural trust and polyculturalism: Effects of cultural resources on various forms of trust in an intercultural context

Business interactions, behaviors, and decisions are based on or are a result of social or economic exchanges. Trust is a key component of exchanges, influencing course of action and outcomes. Intercultural trust is more... [ view full abstract ]

Business interactions, behaviors, and decisions are based on or are a result of social or economic exchanges. Trust is a key component of exchanges, influencing course of action and outcomes. Intercultural trust is more complex and challenging than monocultural trust because multiple cul-tural components at least partially impact what and how people perceive, interpret, and react to each other. These decisions impact trust by influencing how people feel about-, the level of ac-ceptance for-, and the behaviors towards-each other. Having specific and meaningful knowledge, understanding, and proficiency from several cultures and effectively applying them to situations provides an individual with valuable assets and is the essence of polycultural capital (PC). Affective and cognitive intercultural trust are posited to be uniquely predicted in part by different elements of PC: experiential and cognitive elements. Affective intercultural trust is posited to be related to experiential elements of PC and cognitive intercultural trust to cognitive elements of PC. Further, the experiential the cognitive elements of PC are posited to be related to each other in the model presented, ultimately impacting trust exchanges in intercultural con-texts. We posit Pc provides a differentiating variable for leveraging benefits of cultural diversity and PC is directly related to outcomes of trust in the complex environment of intercultural ex-changes. Further, intercultural trust, as the basis of social and economic exchanges, can be a meaningful proxy for the quality of intercultural relationships and polycultural capital can be a significant, unique, predictor of intercultural trust.