Measuring trust inside organisations
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which measures and operationalisations of intra‐organisational trust reflect the essential elements of the existing conceptualisation of trust inside the workplace. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides an overview of the essential points from the rich variety of competing conceptualisations and definitions in the management and organisational literatures. It draws on this overview to present a framework of issues for researchers to consider when designing research based on trust. This framework is then used to analyse the content of 14 recently published empirical measures of intra‐organisational trust. It is noted for each measure the form that trust takes, the content, the sources of evidence and the identity of the recipient, as well as matters related to the wording of items. Findings The paper highlights where existing measures match the theory, but also shows a number of “blind‐spots” or contradictions, particularly over the content of the trust belief, the selection of possible sources of evidence for trust, and inconsistencies in the identity of the referent. Research limitations/implications It offers researchers some recommendations for future research designed to capture trust among different parties in organisations, and contains an Appendix with 14 measures for intra‐organisational trust. Originality/value The value of the paper is twofold: it provides an overview of the conceptualisation lit…
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A lack of consensus around the measurement of trust is well documented in the literature and leading scholars have called for a more unified approach.
“First, a lack of consensus around the measurement of trust is well documented in the literature and leading scholars in the area have called for a more unified approach (e.g. Dietz & Den Hartog, 2006; McEvily & Tortoriello, 2011).”
From A meta-analysis of the role of trust in the leadership- performance relationship (2021) · cites this paper as Dietz & Den Hartog, 2006
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How to Evaluate Trust in AI-Assisted Decision Making? A Survey of Empirical Methodologies
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A meta-analysis of the role of trust in the leadership- performance relationship
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Self-citationThe Sanction of Authority: Promoting Public Trust in AI
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How Do We Assess the Trustworthiness of AI? Introducing the Trustworthiness Assessment Model (TrAM)
Schlicker, N., Baum, K., Uhde, A., Sterz, S., Hirsch, M. C., & Langer, M. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/qhwvx · Cited by 79 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dietz, G., & Den Hartog, D. N.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- Venue
- Personnel Review
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2006-09-01
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 557-588
- ISSN
- 0048-3486 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1977714815
- Cited by
- 596
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 37 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 15.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Personnel Review (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Capital and Networks
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- trust measurement, workplace trust, measurement validity
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