Outcomes of Interpersonal Felt Distrust in the Workplace: An Identity Threat Perspective

Abstract

While there has been an undeniable upsurge in the study of distrust in organizations, surprisingly, there remains a dearth of research on the outcomes of felt distrust in the workplace. More specifically, little attention has been paid to examining how individuals respond to feeling distrusted by others at work. This dissertation aims to address this gap by developing and empirically examining a model of the emotional and behavioral impact of felt distrust by a supervisor on their subordinates. Drawing on identity theory, I suggest that felt distrust triggers a threat to one’s work-related identity, which is more pronounced for individuals high in moral identity centrality. Further, interpersonal felt distrust evokes negative moral emotions -- anger and shame -- followed by engagement in counterproductive organizational behaviors, psychological withdrawal and impression management behavior.

I empirically test this conceptual model through an experiment in Study 1 and a survey following a critical incident technique in Study 2. Study 1 tested the causal effect of interpersonal felt distrust by a supervisor on an individual’s work-related identity threat and subsequent emotional reactions, and the moderating role of moral identity centrality. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and also tested behavioral reactions to interpersonal felt distrust.

The findings of this dissertation show that work-related identity threat acts as a core psychological mechanism that explains individual reactions to feeling distrusted by a supervisor at work. This threat becomes even more salient for individuals who place a high value on their moral identity. These results are supported in both studies. In Study 2, the hypotheses linking emotional and behavioral outcomes were not supported, and the analysis of the overall structural equation model reveals some interesting and unexpected findings.

The theoretical contributions of this novel perspective enrich the organizational literature on distrust, work-related identity threat and emotions in the workplace. From a practical perspective, a better understanding of how and why individuals react to feeling distrusted underscores the importance for leaders and HR practitioners to be mindful of the communication of distrust to employees given its profound impact.