Exploring the nomological net of trust in leadership: an empirical examination of antecedents, moderators, and outcomes

Abstract

To fully understand human interactions in the workplace, we must understand the role trust plays. My dissertation is a general investigation of trust between subordinates and leaders within an organizational context. Using a diverse sample of US employees, I examined the relative importance of three key trust determinants: leader benevolence, competence, and integrity. I also examined the role trait trust plays in the trust nomological net. I examined previously posited, yet untested, moderators of the trustworthiness-trust relationship. Lastly, I tested the contextual effects of risk and formal controls on the relationship between employees' trust in leadership and their turnover intentions. I found an individual's propensity to trust seems to affect trust in leadership through perceptions of leader trustworthiness. Leaders can inspire trust by being capable, kind, and honest. Leader integrity is the most important direct determinant of trust in leadership. Despite theoretical arguments, relationship length and job complexity have no bearing on the importance of the direct determinants of trust in leadership. A manager may use trust to influence his/her staff, who are more willing to assume risk on their manager's behalf. Trust may act as a substitute for costly and rigid formal control mechanisms, like legal contracts. Despite theoretical arguments, situational risk in the form of organizational change, whether perceived or actual, does not magnify the importance of trust in leadership to turnover intentions. Still, trust in leadership is important to predicting turnover intentions, even beyond job satisfaction and organizational commitment.