Trust in Supervisors and Trust in Customers: Their Independent, Relative, and Joint Effects on Employee Performance and Creativity

Abstract

We examined the relations for hairstylists between trust and routine and creative performance and the extent to which these service employees trust their supervisors and customers. We also investigated whether psychological safety mediated these trust–performance relations. Results suggested that trust in supervisors and trust in customers made significant, independent, and joint contributions to employees' creative performance; however, only trust in supervisors was related to routine performance. Moreover, psychological safety mediated the trust in supervisor–performance links, but did not mediate the trust in customer influence.