Trust in management: The effect of managerial trustworthy behavior and reciprocity

In this paper we study the antecedents of subordinates’ trust in their leaders (STL). In particular, we focus on the effects of managerial trustworthy behavior (MTB) and subordinates’ perceptions of leaders’ trust in them (LTS). We develop a scale of managerial trustworthy behavior following the typology proposed by Whitener, Brodt, Korsgaard and Werner (1998) that includes: behavioral consistency, behavioral integrity, sharing and delegation of control, communication, and demonstration of concern. A sample of 109 Spanish middle managers provided data for our study. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis show that both MTB and LTS have a significant relationship with STL. Further, we study the effect of reciprocity in the trusting relationship. We find that there are significant differences between subordinates’ trust in management and their perceptions about superiors’ trust in them.