Direct and Indirect Effects of Third-Party Relationships on Interpersonal Trust

Past studies of the determinants of interpersonal trust have focused primarily on how trust forms in isolated dyads. Yet within organizations, trust typically develops between individuals who are embedded in a complex web of existing and potential relationships. In this article, the authors identify...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied psychology 2006-07, Vol.91 (4), p.870-883
Main Authors: Ferrin, Donald L, Dirks, Kurt T, Shah, Pri P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Business studies
Citizenship
Effects
Employment - psychology
Female
Firm theory
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Human relations
Humans
Interpersonal communication
Interpersonal Relations
Interpersonal Relationships
Male
Occupational psychology
Organization and management. Professional relation
Organizational Behavior
Organizations
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Regression analysis
Social Interaction
Social Networks
Social psychology
Social Support
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Third party
Trust
Trust (Social Behavior)
Workplace - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Past studies of the determinants of interpersonal trust have focused primarily on how trust forms in isolated dyads. Yet within organizations, trust typically develops between individuals who are embedded in a complex web of existing and potential relationships. In this article, the authors identify 3 alternative ways in which a trustor and trustee may be linked to each other via third parties: network closure (linked via social interactions with third parties), trust transferability (linked via trusted third parties), and structural equivalence (linked via the similarity of their relationships with all potential third parties within the organization). Each of these is argued to influence interpersonal trust via a distinct social mechanism. The authors hypothesized that network closure and structural equivalence would predict interpersonal trust indirectly via their impact on interpersonal organizational citizenship behaviors performed within the interpersonal relationship, whereas trust transferability would predict trust directly. Social network analyses of data gathered from a medium-sized work organization provide substantial support for the hypotheses and also suggest important directions for future research.
ISSN:0021-9010
1939-1854
DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.870