Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Business and Economics

Department

Management

Committee Chair

Edward Tomlinson

Committee Co-Chair

Jeffery Houghton

Committee Member

Jeffery Houghton

Committee Member

Xiaoxiao Hu

Committee Member

Michele Williams

Abstract

This dissertation examines how perceived perspective taking relates to trust repair, specifically in the context of a benevolence-based violation. I draw on perspective taking theory, attribution theory, and the integrative model of organizational trust to explore a model of interpersonal trust repair. The extant literature on trust repair primarily focuses on violations of ability and integrity, leaving the third dimension of trustworthiness, benevolence, largely unexplored. Yet, research suggests as many as 96% of workplace employees have been victims of benevolence-based offenses, such as disrespect, condescension, or degradation. The present research expands the theoretical bounds of the extant trust repair literature to better understand how to repair trust after such violations. I posited that the relationship between perceived perspective taking and benevolence is simultaneously mediated by stability attributions and empathy, where cognitive-driven calculations of whether the cause of the event is stable and affect-driven perceptions of empathy lead to updated perceptions of benevolence. In addition, I proposed that these revised perceptions of benevolence are positively related to trust, but that this relationship is qualified by the victim’s dispositional forgiveness. I conducted two studies to investigate these relationships. Study 1 involved critical incident technique methodology to evoke salient, real-world, benevolence-based violations in established relationships followed by a questionnaire of focal variables to test the full model. This specifically answered the call of scholars to take trust repair studies out of the lab and into the workplace as well as examining established rather than nascent relationships. Study 2 employed an experimental vignette methodology (EVM) that directly manipulated levels of benevolence along with three social accounts. This follow-up study was expected to replicate the expected findings from study 1 as well as more closely examine the role of benevolence and perspective taking by using experimental control. While the results of study 2 were not interpreted due to poor model fit indices, there were several key findings in study 1. First, the relationship between perceived perspective taking and benevolence was fully explained by perceived empathy, and to a lesser extent, unstable causal attributions. Second, restored perceptions of benevolence predicted trust repair. Additionally, empathy and stability attributions were both significantly related with trust repair. Third and finally, dispositional forgiveness failed to moderate the proximal predictors of trust repair. Thus, the overall model received only partial support. The theoretical and practical implications of the study 1 results are discussed along with limitations and opportunities for future research.

Download

Share

COinS