Integrity-based Trust Research Articles

Going beyond the "self" in self-control: Interpersonal consequences of commitment strategies.

Commitment strategies are effective mechanisms individuals can use to overcome self-control problems. Across seven studies (and two supplemental studies), we explore the negative interpersonal consequences of commitment strategy choice and use. In Study 1, using an incentivized trust game, we demonstrate that individuals trust people who choose to use a commitment strategy less than those who choose to use willpower to achieve their goals. Study 2 shows this relationship holds across four domains and for integrity-based trust in particular. Study 3 provides evidence that it is the choice to use the strategy rather than strategy use itself that incurs this integrity penalty. In Studies 4-5b, we demonstrate that this effect is driven, at least in part, by the fact that people infer past performance from strategy choice. Finally, Study 6 provides evidence that people select commitment strategies more in private than in public, which is consistent with the notion that people anticipate the negative consequences of commitment strategy choice. Thus, we establish the role of willpower as a positive signal in impression formation as well as the negative interpersonal consequences of choosing to rely on external aides when faced with temptation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Trusting the minister or trusting the mayor? Perceived competence and integrity of central and local Dutch institutions governing energy matters

Phasing out fossil fuels is inherent to sustainable energy transitions, but implementing energy policies related to phasing out processes involves risks that may affect their public support. Trust in institutions responsible for handling these risks is crucial for public acceptability, as it serves as a heuristic for risk assessment. In the current study, using the Dutch energy scenario, we examine how trust in institutions relates to public support for phasing out natural gas in the Netherlands. We build from previous research by examining this for the two types of trust most commonly distinguished in the literature, namely competence- and integrity-based trust, and for institutions operating at both national and local levels. Results showed that trust depends on the type of trust people evaluate and on the institution’s level of operation. Locally, institutions are seen as more honest and transparent, while nationally, they’re perceived as more skilled and having more knowledge. Further, integrity-based trust in both local and national institutions better explained public support for phasing out natural gas than competence-based trust. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for energy policy, suggesting policymakers consider trust dynamics and tailor strategies based on trust dimensions and institutional levels to facilitate phasing out processes.

Perspective taking and public acceptance of nuclear energy: Mediation of trust in government and moderation of cultural values

Given the increasing severity of global climate change, many countries such as China adopt nuclear energy as a priority strategy in energy policy because of its advantages of low carbon emissions and high electricity generation efficiency. However, public acceptance of nuclear energy (PANE) is a key factor that the government should to consider in making nuclear energy policy. Hence, understanding how to improve PANE is important. Based on the motivated information processing theory, this study explored the influence of perspective taking (PT) on PANE via competence-based and integrity-based trust in government, along with the moderating effects of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The findings, based on 1,052 valid Chinese samples collected by an online questionnaire survey, indicated that PT was positively related to PANE. Competence-based and integrity-based trust in government mediated the effect of PT on PANE. Moreover, the results demonstrated power distance strengthens whereas uncertainty avoidance weakens the positive effect of PT on competence-based and integrity-based trust in government. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications for understanding the formation of PANE from perspective of public motivational factor related to information processing (i.e., PT), trust in government, and culture values.

Does pro-customer behavior always do the trick? An investigation of pro-customer deviance

Pro-customer deviance (PCD), a behavior of employees intentionally deviating from organizational norms to benefit customers, is an emerging phenomenon during service encounters. However, its consequences are inadequately theorized. Drawing upon the affect, behavior and cognition (ABC) model of attitudes, this study investigates customers’ cognitive, affective and behavioral responses to PCD, along with the relationships among them. The analysis of qualitative data from 52 semi-structured interviews reveals that: (1) Focal customers’ cognitions include perceived self-gain or the combination with perceived other losses, while other customers tend to perceive organizational customer-oriented, conflict of interest, and lack of integrity-based trust; (2) Affects are dominated by moral emotions, and focal customers produce mixed emotions; (3) Focal and other customers exhibit both positive and negative behavioral responses; (4) Consumers’ responses to PCD follow the cognition-affect-behavior sequence. This study provides qualitative insights into the consequences of PCD and practical implications for effective management of PCD.

A review of experimental research on organizational trust

ABSTRACT Trust profoundly shapes organisational, group, and dyadic outcomes. Reflecting its importance, a substantial and growing body of scholarship has investigated the topic of trust. Much of this work has used experiments to identify clear, causal relationships. However, in contrast to theoretical work that conceptualises trust as a multi-faceted (e.g. ability, benevolence, integrity), multi-level (e.g. interpersonal, intergroup), and dynamic construct, experimental scholarship investigating trust has largely investigated benevolence-based trust in dyadic relationships. As a result of the relatively limited set of paradigms experimental scholars have used to investigate trust, many questions related to different forms and types of trust remain un- and under-explored in experimental work. In this review, we take stock of the existing experimental trust scholarship and identify key gaps in our current understanding of trust. We call for future experimental work to investigate ability-based and integrity-based trust, to advance our understanding of the interplay between relationship history and trust, to study trust as a multi-level construct, to focus on the consequences of trust including the hazards of misplaced trust, and to study trust maintenance. To support these lines of inquiry, we introduce an ideal-typical process model to develop or adapt appropriate trust experiments.

VCAs as partners or servants? The effects of information sensitivity and anthropomorphism roles on privacy concerns

Advances in machine learning and natural language processing have driven the growing popularity of virtual conversational agents (VCAs). This anthropomorphic communication approach relies on user information sharing and real-time feedback from VCAs, and has raised privacy concerns while affecting various social interactions and relationships. Previous research on reducing user privacy concerns has mainly focused on user information mining, sensitive user information requests and privacy policies, while little is known about the anthropomorphic roles of partners and servants at the human-machine social hierarchy level. Therefore, this study, based on human-computer interaction (service) anthropomorphism at social level, develops a framework to investigate the impact of information sensitivity and VCAs' anthropomorphic roles, including partner and servant, on users' privacy concerns, as well as the mediating effects of competence- and integrity-based trust. The results show that when highly sensitive information is requested, user privacy concerns are greater for a partner VCA than a servant VCA, and vice-versa. Meanwhile, when a VCA requests highly sensitive information, integrity-based trust mediates the relationship between servant VCAs and privacy concerns, and when a VCA requests low-sensitivity information, competence-based trust mediates the same relationship. These insights provide actionable implications for managers.

“Sorry, it was my fault”: Repairing trust in human-robot interactions

The current study develops a three-fold categorization (i.e., logic, semantic, and syntax failures) for technical failures that are commonly observed in human-robot interactions (HRI), and investigates it along with four trust repair strategies: internal-attribution apology, external-attribution apology, denial, and no repair. The 743 observations conducted through an online experiment reveal some nuances in participants’ perceprions of competence- and integrity-based trust violations, which may reflect ontological differences between humans and machines. The analysis also shows significant main effects of failure types and repair methods on HRI-based trust.

Knowledge acquisition from host-country partners: The interplay of trust and legal safeguards

Acquiring local knowledge from host-country key partners is crucial for internationalizing firms, yet it entails severe risks for both partners. Research thus emphasizes the role of interorganizational trust, but is inconclusive about how effective it is in different contexts. We theorize how different trust dimensions interact with host-country legal safeguards. We test our hypotheses with data on 210 cross-border relationships in the renewable-energy industry. Results show that weak legal safeguards render ability-based trust particularly effective for knowledge acquisition, while strong legal safeguards render integrity-based trust effective. Benevolence-based trust, however, may have detrimental effects under conditions of strong legal safeguards.

Repairing Integrity-Based Trust Violations in Ascription Disputes for Potential E-Commerce Customers

Trust violations of online sellers are widely reported in customer reviews and are often ascribed to the sellers’ lack of integrity. These reported violations reduce potential customers’ trust in the accused sellers, given the critical role of seller integrity in e-commerce. However, accused sellers and buyers often dispute the ascriptions of trust violations (e.g., sellers may argue that a violation is due to their lack of competence instead of their integrity). The trust repair literature has inadequately focused on effective strategies to repair reported integrity-based trust violations in ascription disputes. Drawing upon attribution theory and individuals’ cognitive sensemaking process regarding trust violations, we propose an account-based approach through re-ascription and stability attributions, enabling accused sellers to repair potential customers’ trust in them in the event of such disputes. We theorize the effectiveness of this approach by considering the contingent role of the accused seller’s reputation. The results of our laboratory experiments confirm the effectiveness of our approach in repairing potential customers’ trust for sellers with a high reputation but not for sellers with a low reputation. We further investigate the effectiveness of disclosing substantive amends (i.e., financial compensation) made by the accused seller to the victim as an alternative approach to repairing potential customers’ trust in sellers with a low reputation. The results reveal the significant effects of disclosing substantive amends on repairing potential customers’ trust in the seller, regardless of the seller’s reputation.

Do accounting disclosures help or hinder individual donors’ trust repair after negative events?

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether and how voluntary accounting disclosures can repair individual donors’ trust in a charity after negative events.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt a qualitative research approach and conduct 32 semi-structured interviews with active Australian individual donors, with a hypothetical vignette design. Hypothetical negative events and corresponding accounting disclosures are presented to participants during interviews.FindingsThree types of individual donors are identified based on their decision-making patterns after negative events and primary trust relations with a charity-reasoned donor (giving-decision based on their analysis of the situation, competence-based trust), generalist donors (giving-decision based on trust in the charitable sector, institution-based trust) and emotional donors (giving-decision based on feelings and emotions about the charity, integrity-based trust). The research suggests that accounting disclosures can repair trust damage for reasoned donors and support institution-based trust for generalist donors, but do not seem able to repair trust damage for emotional donors and can potentially damage trust further.Practical implicationsOverall, the findings suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to communicating with individual donors after negative events is not likely to be very effective in repairing trust. Instead, charities may need to adapt disclosures to their different types of individual donors.Originality/valueWhile prior accounting studies have largely focussed on how charity managers themselves grapple with accountability or how negative events impact charitable donations, the authors demonstrate how accounting disclosures can play different roles in the trust-repairing process for different types of individual donors.

Denials and apologies: pathways to reconciliation

Purpose This paper aims to examine how verbal responses (denials vs apologies) following a trust violation in cooperative relationships influence reconciliation by changing attributions of responsibility for the transgression and transgressor’s perceived integrity. Additionally, the moderating role of perceived sincerity of the response is examined. Design/methodology/approach Two experimental studies were conducted with 465 participants. Hypotheses were tested using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and moderated serial mediation analyses with bootstrapping procedures. Findings In the occurrence of integrity-based trust violations, denials are more effective than apologies to repair trust. The positive indirect effects of these verbal responses on reconciliation are explained by a two-part mediating mechanism (attribution of responsibility followed by transgressor’s perceived integrity). Additionally, when responses are perceived as highly credible, denials are much more effective in deflecting blame than apologies. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature on trust repair by examining when and why managers’ verbal responses to breaches of trust may be more or less effective in restoring cooperative relationships. Practical implications Managers must be aware that their perceived integrity following a breach of trust is influenced by the level of responsibility taken. Therefore, they should choose wisely which defensive tactics (apologies or denials) to use. Social implications As trust plays a central role in many cooperative relationships, choosing an appropriate response after a transgression is critical to solving conflicts both within and between organizations. Originality/value This work contributes to the reconciliation literature by uncovering the underlying cognitive mechanisms and boundary conditions by which different verbal responses influence reconciliation.

Verbal or Written? The Impact of Apology on the Repair of Trust: Based on Competence- vs. Integrity-Based Trust Violation.

This study examined the effect of verbal and written apologies on trust repair based on competence and integrity after a trust violation. Through three experiments, the empirical results showed that the written apology was more effective than verbal ones a restoring trust for integrity-based trust violations. However, the verbal apology was more effective against competency-based trust violations than a written one. Moreover, the results also showed that perceived trustworthiness played a mediating role between trust violation and trust repair, while positive emotions played a moderating role. Finally, this study provided a general discussion, implications, and suggestions for future research.

The role of trust in public acceptability of energy projects: Integrity versus competence

Public acceptability of energy projects depends on people’s trust in agents responsible for those projects. We examined to what extent different dimensions of trust, notably integrity- and competence-based trust, are associated with public acceptability of real ongoing energy projects associated with acute risks and other consequences. A series of questionnaire studies in the Netherlands revealed that both integrity- and competence-based trust were positively associated with public acceptability of natural gas extraction which causes earthquakes in the region. Yet, integrity-based trust was more strongly and consistently associated with public acceptability of the natural gas extraction compared to competence-based trust. The findings were rather consistent across four different measurement phases. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

What Drives Working Habits for Sharing Knowledge in Virtual Teams? An Organizational Embeddedness Perspective

This study explores employees’ working habits regarding knowledge sharing using new malleable technologies within virtual teams in a Taiwanese society. The exploratory, qualitative data, gained from observations and extracted from 26 interviews, were analyzed using thematic analysis. It was found that employees used internal IS less but made more use of external IT in their everyday activities. It was also found that the structuration of internal IS inhibited their habits and IT practices on account of the problem of “over-embeddedness.” Group members, by contrast, more habitually used external IT to share information and experiences with others because of their strong relational and structural embeddedness in the external IT. In the structuration of knowledge-sharing practices, the appropriation of external IT may explain why users are engaged in such habitual behavior. To foster employees’ working behavioral habits regarding knowledge sharing in virtual teams, an institution can introduce job stability and organizational norms to reinforce structural embeddedness, while integrity-based trust and affective commitment, which underlie cultural homophily, are encouraged in group relationships to reinforce relational embeddedness (relative to Guanxi). This paper thus provides new pathways for group members to develop and sustain their habits in the use of external IT rather than internal IS.

Get Angry or Get Compassionate? How Leader Displays of Moral Emotions Influence Leader Effectiveness

Ethical transgressions in organizations are emotionally evocative events, yet it is not fully understood how leader emotional responses in these situations influences their perceived effectiveness. In this research, we draw on emotions as social information theory to compare how leader effectiveness is impacted by display of two moral emotions amongst leaders: anger and compassion. Across three studies with full-time employees, including two experiments and a critical incident design, we document several key results. First, anger (versus compassion) led to greater perceived leader effectiveness when leaders did not punish transgressing employees, but given that the leader punished the employees, leader compassion resulted in greater perceived leader effectiveness. Second, the degree to which the transgressing employee expressed guilt for the transgression diminished the effectiveness of leader anger. Additionally, benevolence-based trust mediated the positive effect of leader compassion on leader effectiveness. Leaders who expressed anger were seen as more effective in part due to increased integrity-based trust, benevolence-based trust, social intelligence, and leader prototypicality, but only when employee guilt was low. Collectively, these results highlight the effectiveness of a “tough love” approach, whereby leaders punish transgressing employees to correct and disincentivize unethical behavior, yet also demonstrate compassion for their welfare.

Combined strategy of trust repair in construction project organizations: an exploratory study in Chinese management scenario

PurposeThis study aims to explore the combined strategies leading to successful repair of two types of trust in Chinese construction projects and provide an effective guidance and control trust repair in construction projects. During the research period, the author interviewed 150 managers from 50 Chinese construction projects and collected details of 125 violations. The research examines the effect of combined strategy of trust repair in Chinese management scenario.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a mixed, quantitative, qualitative and exploratory approach. The author first extracted six strategies, namely, apology, denial, penance, communication, promise and compensation, from the literature review and generalization. Then, the author conducted an interview with 150 managers from 50 China construction projects. And the author analyzed the data through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).FindingsWhen competence-based trust is broken, violators should adopt communication and promise, demonstrate their competence and qualification, and change the attributions of competence from the trustor. When integrity-based trust is broken, violators should apologize, actively admit the mistake, show a positive attitude and seek the forgiveness from the trustor. After reconstructing trustors' perceptions of competence or integrity, violators should also make a promise to trustors for the future. The result of this research not only illustrates the sufficiency and necessity of a single strategy for trust repair but also explores the combination of trust repair strategies that rebuild the trust.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to 50 construction projects in the Chinese construction context, so conclusions are limited in application. Data used in this research did not provide an in-depth analysis of trust repair failures. Thus, additional research is needed to explore why trust was not repaired. The study is also limited to examining the Chinese construction project organizations only, and future studies should incorporate organizations in other nations and regions.Practical implicationsCompared with using a single strategy, a combined strategy provides a contribution to the future practice of repair broken relationship between construction project organizations. This research helps to organize decisions and benefits managers, from Chinese owners and contractors, in choosing which of these strategies repair trust. The author also provides a specific combination of strategies to repair relationships for international companies that have conflicts with Chinese construction companies.Originality/valueThis research is among the early studies in China that preliminary examines the combined strategy of trust repair between Chinese owners and contractors by using causal attribution theory and QCA. This study makes a valuable contribution toward combined strategy in construction project and the knowledge system of trust repair. Future studies could build on the findings from the current study to develop a cross-cultural research on trust repair.

“Just Say You’re Sorry”: Avoidance and Revenge Behavior in Response to Organizations Apologizing for Fraud

Using two experiments, I examine how apologizing for fraud influences investor's avoidance (selling shares) and revenge (litigation) behavior. Investors in experiment one report how many shares they would sell and how likely they would be to pursue legal punishment after discovering fraud has occurred in an organization they are currently invested in and subsequently reading about management's response to the fraud. I manipulate the nature of fraud as fraudulent financial reporting (misreporting) or asset misappropriation (embezzlement). I also manipulate whether management apologizes, scapegoats responsibility, or remains silent after the fraud. Results show avoidance and revenge behavior is more negative after misreporting fraud. Data suggest that this difference may be partially attributable to the underlying moral norm that is violated. Specifically, misreporting is primarily a moral violation of deception, whereas embezzlement is primarily a moral violation of stealing. Results also show differential investor reactions depending on the type of fraud and management's response. For misreporting, revenge behavior is higher when management apologizes, but there is no effect on avoidance behavior. For embezzlement, avoidance behavior is reduced when the organization apologizes, but revenge behavior is unaffected. In experiment two, I replicate the misreporting condition from experiment one and manipulate apology sincerity. Results show that apology sincerity is positively associated with revenge behavior. Results of these two experiments extend both accounting and trust repair research by emphasizing the importance of disentangling moral integrity-based trust violations and that the adage of "just say you're sorry" is helpful in some situations and harmful in others.

Negotiating Through Agents: A Principal-Focused Agency Model in Representative Negotiations

While the negotiation field has thoroughly explored an agent’s experience in representative negotiations, an examination of the principal’s perspective is notably lacking. To address this under-researched area in management, we present the Principal-Focused Agency Model -- a trust-based, principal-centric conceptualization of how principals control their agents’ behavior, and how those controls affect negotiation outcomes. This article puts forth four main propositions. First, we posit that principals’ trust based in perceptions of their agents’ benevolence (i.e., benevolence-based trust) negatively relates to how much principals attempt to control the outcomes of their negotiations (i.e., the “ends”). Second, we hypothesize that principals’ trust based in perceptions of their agents’ integrity (i.e., integrity-based trust) negatively relates to how much principals’ attempt to control the process of their negotiations (i.e., the “means”). Third, principals’ trust based in perceptions of their agents’ ability (i.e. ability-based trust) is necessary but not sufficient for principals to relinquish control over either negotiation outcomes or processes. Fourth, we posit that principals’ decision to maintain control in representative negotiations negatively affects their outcomes, and that this relationship is moderated by the negotiation’s integrative potential, such that the more integrative potential is present, the more detrimental it is for principals to attempt to maintain control.

When negotiators with honest reputations are less (and more) likely to be deceived

Building upon the ability, benevolence, and integrity model of trustworthiness, we examine the impact of three corresponding, commendable negotiator reputations– proficient, friendly, and honest– on deception in negotiation. We primarily differentiate between honest and friendly reputations, which are both seemingly cooperative and often tangled in past literature. We found that honest versus friendly (or proficient) reputations enhance integrity-based trust and curtail deception. We further found that anticipated emotions (namely, intensified guilt and reduced pride) associated with lying, as well as anticipated positive reciprocity associated with being truthful, play a role in reducing deception towards counterparts who are high on expected integrity. Yet, this advantage of honest reputations disappeared and even backfired when refuted; especially when negotiating with individuals who typically do not lie in negotiations. These findings uncouple the two communal negotiator reputations – honest versus friendly, and suggest negotiators should be particularly concerned about having, and also about maintaining, honest reputations.

A 2020 research commentary on the trust repair life cycle for “How to use apology and compensation to repair competence- versus integrity-based trust violations in e-commerce.”

Abstract Trust is the stepping-stone for successful e-commerce relationships while trust violations in e-commerce are common phenomena. Recovering consumer trust as quickly and effectively as possible is a top priority for e-commerce companies. However, what the underlying mechanism for trust violation repair is remains unclear so far. In order to address this gap, more studies should be conducted for trust repair in the e-commerce context. According to the prior literature, approaches for repairing trust in the short term have begun to be addressed, whereas the long-term approaches have received little attention. Accordingly, a comprehensive model that combines both short-term and long-term repairing approaches is necessary and should be explored.