The effects of a trust violation and trust repair in a distributed team decision-making task: Exploring the affective component of trust

Abstract

The researchers investigated trust in a distributed work team. We explored the extent to which increased negative affective implicit and explicit attitudes are associated with loss of trust after a trust violation. We also investigated the effects of an attempt at trust repair after this violation. Participants performed a remote team task with two teammates. One of the teammates exploited the participant and then attempted to repair trust. Implicit and explicit affective attitudes and trust were measured. Increased negative explicit attitude toward the violator was associated with loss of trust in this teammate. Also, the attempt to repair trust significantly increased trust, but was still significantly lower than baseline. Results highlight the importance of explicit affective attitude as a trust predictor. Also, loss of trust resulting from exploitation may be increased by attempts at trust repair, but complete restoration of trust may be challenging after exploitation has occurred.