The Nature, Antecedents and Outcomes of Interpersonal Trust within Co-worker Relationships in Jordan.

Abstract

Research in the area of interpersonal trust within organisations has to a great extent focused on developing theoretical models identifying the nature, antecedents and outcomes of trust and empirically testing these models within the context of various organisational work relationships. However, the applicability of the propositions introduced by these models to cultural contexts different from those in which they were initially developed and to previously overlooked work relationship contexts has not been thoroughly understood or empirically examined. This thesis mainly examines trust, its antecedents and outcomes in co-worker relationship contexts involving permanent and contingent co-workers working within Jordanian organisations. The thesis reports the findings of two studies through which the applicability of the propositions of one of the most widely accepted theoretical frameworks pertaining to trust (the Mayer, Davis and Schoorman, 1995, integrative model of organisational trust) to co-worker contexts is empirically tested through the analysis of interview data collected from twenty employees and through the analysis of questionnaire data collected from two hundred employees (154 permanent employees and 46 contingent employee) from five different Jordanian organisations. Mayer et al.’s (1995) proposed model was mostly generalizable across co-worker contexts involving permanent and contingent employees. In addition, trust in a co-worker related significantly to interpersonal citizenship behaviours (ICB) towards the respective co-worker and unlike contingent employees, permanent employees differentiated between their permanent and contingent co-workers in terms of trust, trustworthiness perceptions and ICBs. However, both groups did not differentiate between their co-workers in terms of antisocial work behaviours. These findings indicate for academics and practitioners the importance of considering the employment status of employees when examining or managing the antecedents and outcomes of trust across various co-worker relationship contexts.