Antecedents of coworker trust: Leaders' blessings.

Abstract

Although employee trust in leaders has garnered substantial empirical research, trust between coworkers has been virtually ignored. Extending the work of D. L. Ferrin, K. T. Dirks, and P. P. Shah (2006), the authors examined the role of group leaders, an influential third party in the workplace, on coworker trust formation. The correlates of the extent to which coworkers trust one another were examined in an investigation of 146 members of 32 work groups representing 4 diverse organizations. In this study, which utilized full network data, coworker trust was operationalized as in-degree centrality in the trust network. Controlling for relational demography and coworker helping behaviors, the authors found, as hypothesized, that coworkers tended to place more trust in fellow coworkers who were also trusted by the teams' formal leaders than in coworkers who were less trusted by leaders. In addition, consistent with the social information processing theory, support was found for the hypothesis that the relationship between leaders' trust and coworker trust is stronger when group performance is poor.

To Invest or Not? The Role of Coworker Support and Trust in Daily Reciprocal Gain Spirals of Helping Behavior

“…The idea that coworker helping behaviors targeted at coworkers can impact downstream trust and perceived support and are reciprocated in the form of helping behavior back toward a coworker suggests that helping behavior should be formally and informally encouraged and rewarded (Lau & Liden, 2008). While this may seem a rather superficial suggestion, we recognize that many organizations pay lip service to the benefits of helping behavior among coworkers while at the same time using reward systems that reward individual behavior.…”

“…Researchers have also highlighted the formal role of the supervisor in developing trust between coworkers (Bruk- Lee & Spector, 2006;Lau & Liden, 2008). Because interpersonal conflict in the workplace increases stress (Bruk-Lee & Spector, 2006), supervisors should have multiple motives to act as the first line of defense in mediating coworker conflict (Lau & Liden, 2008). The interaction between employees and supervisors relative to conflict, whether between coworkers or between employees and supervisors, is complex.…”

“…Tan and Lim also suggest that exercises designed to build coworker trust, like those intended to enhance perceptions of coworker competency, can be embedded within team training interventions. Researchers have also highlighted the formal role of the supervisor in developing trust between coworkers (Bruk- Lee & Spector, 2006;Lau & Liden, 2008). Because interpersonal conflict in the workplace increases stress (Bruk-Lee & Spector, 2006), supervisors should have multiple motives to act as the first line of defense in mediating coworker conflict (Lau & Liden, 2008).…”

Explaining Cohesion Linkages in Workgroups: The Cooperative Communication in Collectivism and High Power Distance Workgroup Context

“…As a result, a multilevel theoretical model must be developed and tested to address how work group cultural context at individual level of analysis influences interactions between group members and work group outcomes at group level analysis (Hipp, Faris & Boessen, 2012;Lau & Liden, 2008;Lepine et al, 2008). Additionally, current explanatory theories and perspectives towards co-workers interaction and work diversity (e.g., leader-member exchange and team-member exchange theory)…”

Trust Me, I’m a Doctor: Understanding Clinician’s Experiences of Service Separation and Trust Formation in Telehealth

“…However, trust can be transferred indirectly through observing a trusted third party's interactions with a trustee (Ferrin et al, 2006) or inferred from their unspoken but observable trusting behaviours (Coleman, 1990). For example, Lau and Liden (2008) found that co-workers tended to trust each other when the team leader also trusted that member. As such, a trusted third party provides a useful source for the trustee to leverage.…”