A Leader You Can Trust: The Effects of Leader Error Approach on Trust

Abstract

In two studies we investigate whether leaders' error approach affects trust by followers and whether this effect is mediated by a leader’s perceived sociability, morality, and competence. Study 1 was an experiment (N = 73) in which we manipulated leaders' error approach (error management vs. control vs. error aversion) and measured its effects on leader perception and trust. In Study 2, a questionnaire measuring leaders perceived error management, error aversion, sociability, morality, competence, and trust, was filled in by 182 players from 27 non-professional Dutch football teams. Overall, our findings indicate that error management leads to more trust in the leader than error aversion and that the effects of error management on trust are mediated by perceived morality (both studies) and competence (Study 2 only), but not by perceived sociability.