Trust among coworkers is more about trustors’ own characteristics than their perceptions of colleagues’ trustworthiness, study finds

In an empirical study examining which factors explain trust among coworkers, trust outcomes are observed to be primarily a function of characteristics of the trustor, specifically their perceptions about the contextual information (CI) available to them in their job situation. 

Warrington alumni Bruce Hawthorne’s (DBA ‘22) research paper “Understanding What Really Drives Trust in the Workplace and the Importance of Trustor Characteristics as Predictors of Co-Worker Trust” was recently approved for publication in Scientific Reports. 

Decades of research has described interpersonal trust as being primarily about our perceptions of the trustworthiness characteristics of potential trustees, the persons we seek to trust and to a lesser extent, our tendency to trust. However, Hawthorne experienced within his own work environments that ensuring team members access to relevant information about their overall job situation led to motivational success. 

Considering these contextual factors, Hawthorne’s study assigned continuous variables to both trustee and trustor characteristics to measure the effects of each factor, which included a new CI variable from his prior research. Ultimately, Hawthorne observed that trustor characteristics (primarily their overall CI availability and, to a lesser extent, their tendency to trust) explained much more about their trust and trusting behavior outcomes than their perceptions of the trustworthiness characteristics of their coworkers. 

“My study findings suggest the notion that if you want to foster trust between people in the workplace, make sure that they have access to the important information about their individual contexts and situations,” Hawthorne said. “Workplace inclusion is one of the most important sources of subjects’ positive CI availability perceptions. Thus, inclusive workplaces lead to trust and trust leads to performance.”

Hawthorne’s research is published in Scientific Reports, the third most-cited journal worldwide, with open access.