How Can It Be Made Right Again? A Review of Trust Repair Research

Abstract

We review research on the topic of trust repair, which has proceeded over the past four decades using three different philosophical mechanisms that provide the bases through which trust is restored by multiple repair tactics. We base our definition of trust repair on the view that trust is “a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based on the positive expectations of the intentions or behaviors of another.” We define trust repair as any increase in trust above the post-transgression level and complete repair as an increase in trust to the pre-transgression level. We provide an overview of the research designs incorporated in the trust-repair literature and make recommendations and cautions in measuring trust repair. We then summarize the emergence of the different mechanisms behind trust repair, namely, attributional, social equilibrium, and structural mechanisms, and review literature on the related verbal and behavioral repair tactics that can be employed after a transgression. We also provide a review on the process of trust repair, that is, the different stages that unfold to repair trust. We conclude by suggesting that future research should explore trust repair not only from an isolated tactics perspective but also from a broader pathway perspective. Finally, as trust repair occurs over time, future research should also explore the role of differing perceptions of time in the trust-repair process.