An Exploration of Interpersonal Trust, Trustworthiness and Moral Identity in the Workplace

Importance and Key Contribution This paper examines the dynamics of inter-personal trust within organisational relationships. It explores how patterns of trust develop over time in workplace relationships, and specifically... [ view full abstract ]

Importance and Key Contribution

This paper examines the dynamics of inter-personal trust within organisational relationships. It explores how patterns of trust develop over time in workplace relationships, and specifically considers moral and emotional aspects of trustworthy behaviour. The analysis and discussion will add to the incremental development of concepts in this area, and contribute to the understanding of the factors that enable effective workplace relationships and ensure successful organizational performance outcomes.

Theoretical Base

The topic of trust within organisations has received much research attention in recent years, and trust has been linked to enhanced performance, job satisfaction, and organisational citizenship behaviours (Colquitt, Scott, & LePine, 2007). Although there is no universal agreement, a widely accepted definition of trust comes from a multi-disciplinary integration of the literature where trust is defined as “a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intentions or behaviour of another” (Rousseau, Sitkin, Burt, & Camerer, 1998, p395). One of the most influential models of organisational trust is that of Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995), which conceptualises trustworthiness as a perception by the trustor of three independent but interrelated characteristics of the trustee (ability, benevolence, integrity), which are antecedents to risk-taking behaviour (trust). Subsequent research has expanded the concept to include context, for example, Kramer (1999) highlighted other categories of antecedents such as dispositional trust, history-based trust, third parties as conduits of trust, category-based trust, role-based trust, and rule-based trust. Trust can change over time, with phases of building, maintaining, breaking, repairing (Rousseau et al., 1998). The nature of trust can change as it develops, moving through different stages such as calculative-based, knowledge-based, and identification-based trust (Lewicki & Bunker, 1996; van der Werff & Buckley, in press). A deeper understanding of the pattern of trust development over time remains a key priority for current trust research.

The moral psychology and business ethics literature (e.g. Trevino, Weaver, & Reynolds, 2006) can bring an interesting and relevant perspective to trust research. In particular, the concept of moral identity as a driving force behind prosocial and ethical behaviour in the workplace can be applied to the concept of trustworthiness. The character perspective on moral identity (Blasi, 1983) proposes it as a stable self-concept with a motivational aspect arising from a desire for self-consistency. In contrast, the social-cognitive perspective (Bandura, 1999; Aquino & Reed, 2002) highlights the impact of situation factors and social interactions, conceptualising moral identity as a multifaceted self-schema. An exploration of the temporal nature of moral identity could offer an original contribution to longitudinal trust research.

An examination of trust and emotion can also offer a perspective on the dynamics of trust development. This is an under-researched area which offers much research potential. The importance of empathy and identification in trust development, to facilitate mutual understanding and mutual bonds, has been highlighted (e.g. Lewicki & Bunker, 1996). Moral emotions (Haidt, 2003) offer a similar framework, in particular the role of empathy or compassion.

Although much trust research measures trust-based behavioural intentions (BTI; Gillespie, 2003), very little trust research demonstrates the link between trust and actual behavioural outcomes. A number of behavioural measures at the inter-personal relationship level will be considered, e.g. prosocial behaviour (Grant, 2008), or other organisational citizenship type behaviours.

Research Questions and Method

In summary, this current research proposal aims to:
• Explore changes in the levels of trust over time in workplace relationships
• Explore the role of individual factors influencing trust levels (propensity to trust, dispositional empathy, moral identity)
• Explore the role of relationship factors influencing trust levels (e.g. relationship nature, levels of interdependence and familiarity)
• Demonstrate the link between trust assessments, expectations, behavioural intentions, and behaviours

The study will carry out a quantitative analysis of empirically validated self-report instruments. The level of analysis will be individual and interpersonal, within one or more organisations. The study will be longtitudinal, with a minimum of four time points, in order to measure changes in trust over time.


REFERENCES

Aquino, K., & Reed II, A. (2002). The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1423.

Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 193–209

Blasi, A. (1983). Moral cognition and moral action: A theoretical perspective. Developmental Review, 3(2), 178-210.

Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A., & LePine, J. A. (2007). Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: a meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 909.

Gillespie, N. (2003, August). Measuring trust in working relationships: the behavioral trust inventory. In Academy of Management Conference, Seattle, WA.

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Kramer, R. M. (1999). Trust and distrust in organizations: Emerging perspectives, enduring questions. Annual Review of Psychology, 50(1), 569-598.

Lewicki, R., & Bunker, B. (1996). Developing and maintaining trust in work relationships. Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research, 114.

Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709-734.

Rousseau, D. M., Sitkin, S. B., Burt, R. S., & Camerer, C. (1998). Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 393-404.

Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., & Reynolds, S. J. (2006). Behavioral ethics in organizations: A review. Journal of Management, 32(6), 951-990.

van der Werff, L., & Buckley, F. (In press). Getting to Know You: A Longitudinal Examination of Trust Cues and Trust Development During Socialization. Journal of Management, published online 24 July 2014.

trust, trustworthiness, moral identity, emotions, empathy, quantitative, longitudinal [ view full abstract ]

trust, trustworthiness, moral identity, emotions, empathy, quantitative, longitudinal