Does knowledge explain trust behaviors and outcomes? The different influences of initial knowledge and experiential knowledge on personal trust interactions

Abstract

Caracuel (2014): Does knowledge explain trust behaviors and outcomes? The different influences of initial knowledge and experiential knowledge on personal trust interactions, This paper examines the influences of initial knowledge and experiential knowledge on trust behaviors and trust outcomes, respectively, at an interpersonal level. We use an experimental dynamic trust game, and our results show that (1) the initial knowledge that exists a priori between a trustor and a trustee helps to explain the trustor's trust behaviors toward the trustee, and (2) the experiential knowledge gained directly by a trustor during a specific trust interaction with a trustee influences the trust outcome, i.e. the difference between the original expectations of the trustor and the subsequent trust behaviors. Our results contribute to human resource literature by clarifying the specific influences of different types of knowledge on interpersonal trust relationships (e.g. between managers and employees) and by supplementing the traditional notion that trust within a firm develops slowly by showing that personal expectations have an immediate and important influence on trust output.

Trust, knowledge sharing and organizational commitment in SMEs

“…Employees that consider their colleagues to be trustworthy are more likely to act on the basis of the words, actions and decisions of their colleagues (McAllister, 1995) as well as to take actions that lie outside conventional or contractual obligations (Ferres et al , 2004). Trust has many important benefits for organizations, especially in terms of workplace perceptions, attitudes (effective intrafirm collaboration), behaviors (engagement success) and performance outcomes (Delgado-Marquez et al , 2015). The influence of trust on KS is real (Renzl, 2008); trust reduces the fear of risk, which will increase the willingness of employees to participate in KS (Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005).…”

Small retail businesses' social media adoption amid a crisis

“…Trust is influenced by knowledge about the trustee (Delgado-M arquez et al, 2015). Knowledge reduces uncertainty and thus provides a framework within which the expectations of the competence, integrity and benevolence of the trustee can be formed (Delgado-M arquez et al, 2015;Luhmann, 1979). Therefore, SBPs' trust in social media is likely to be enhanced by their knowledge (i.e.…”

Dyadic Relationship Quality (DRQ) – Describing the Development of Leader-Follower Relationship Quality: A Qualitative, Longitudinal Study

“…The first recognition of early trusting behaviours is found in work on predispositions to trust (see [47]), followed up by more recent work on the influence of prior more predisposed to trust if they had both a general 'faith in humanity' and a 'trusting stance' (where benefits derive from treating others as though they are trustworthy until proved unreliable). This work was expanded upon by Delgado-Márquez et al, [48], who used laboratory methods to argue that a trustor's prior knowledge about a trustee influences trusting behaviours because initial knowledge reduces uncertainty and allows a trustor to more accurately determine how a trustee might behave in future situations. Certainly, in this study, both leaders and followers made crucial assessments in their initial meeting about the trustworthiness of the other and whether they could behave in a trusting manner.…”