The trust episode in organizations: implications for private and public social capital

Abstract

Taking into account that research on organizational trust is fragmented, the present article proposes an integrated view of the episode of trust in organizations. To this end, the authors define trust and analyze its proximal and distal sources. They also examine the potential role of context, again considering proximal and distal facets. In addition, they explore the consequences of organizational trust leading to private and public social capital. Finally, the authors consider different levels of construct in the analysis of the trust episode in organizations. This effort helps integrate dispersed research efforts and reveals neglected research areas in the investigation on organizational trust and its connections to social capital.