Effects of Cognition-based and Affect-based Trust Attitudes on Trust Intentions

Despite decades of research on trust in the workplace, researchers continue to struggle with fundamental questions regarding the conceptualization and measurement of organizational trust. To help clarify this construct, we revisit established trust definitions (Mayer et al. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709-734, Mayer et al., Academy of Management Review 20:709-734, 1995; Rousseau et al. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 393-404, Rousseau et al., Academy of Management Review 23:393-404, 1998) and distinguish trust attitudes (i.e., positive expectations of others) from trust intentions (i.e., the willingness to be vulnerable). Using a three-study experimental design, we examined the causal effect of two distinct trust attitudes (i.e., cognition-based and affect-based) on two trust intentions (i.e., reliance and disclosure). We found that when cognition-based trust was high, participants were more willing to rely on a colleague (i.e., had higher reliance intentions). When affect-based trust was high, participants were more willing to share sensitive information with that colleague (i.e., higher disclosure intentions) and more willing to rely on a colleague (i.e., higher reliance intentions). We also examined the effect of mixed trust attitudes (i.e., feelings of low (vs. high) cognition-based trust paired with high (vs. low) affect-based trust). We found that, for reliance intentions, for the most part, high affect-based trust could be substituted with high cognition-based trust. Conversely, for disclosure intentions, high cognition-based trust could not substitute for high affect-based trust. The observed patterns indicate that affect-based and cognition-based attitudes are related yet distinct, with differential patterns of prediction with reliance and disclosure intentions. Our findings also underscore the importance of affect-based trust. By nurturing strong interpersonal bonds among employees, organizations can improve communication and collaboration, critical elements for organizational effectiveness.