Counterintuitive leadership research: Trust, apologies, and negative emotions
- May 13
- 4 min read
This is a research story reprint originally published in McGraw Hill’s “The Manager's Digest: Essential Reads for Leader”
Why does trust matter at work?
Trust is essential for positive workplace outcomes, but it has unfortunately been
declining all over the world. The Edelman Trust Barometer shows that six out of ten
people say they distrust until seeing evidence of trustworthiness. Moreover, people are
not highly trusting of organizations; yet, among institutions including businesses, NGOs,
the government, and the media, people trust businesses the most.1 In fact in a yearly
global survey, companies such as the 2022 world top three 1) DHL Express (Germany),
2) Hilton (USA), and 3) Cisco (USA), which are awarded the title of a “Great Place to
Work,” are characterized by trust; employees trust their leaders, have pride in their jobs,
and enjoy interacting with their colleagues.2 Academic research supports the idea that
trust is critical. Scholars consolidated results from over 100 studies with more than
25,000 participants and found that those who trust their leaders are less likely to quit,
are more satisfied with their jobs, and are more committed to the organization.3
What exactly is trust?
Trust is a person’s willingness to be vulnerable to another based on a positive
expectation and without monitoring.4 The person who is bestowing trust is the “trustor,”
while the one receiving the trust is the “trustee”. The trustor evaluates the trustee on
trustworthiness, which has three aspects (1) ability (i.e., competence to accomplish a
task), (2) benevolence (i.e., trustor’s perception that the trustee wants to do good), and
(3) level of integrity (i.e., having a moral compass). Each person also has a “propensity
to trust,” or a natural tendency to be more or less inclined to trust others, although this
can fluctuate5 ; thus, when deciding to trust someone, a trustor has his or her own
propensity to trust but also evaluates the trustee on the three parts of trustworthiness.
1. Feeling trusted by the manager
It is obvious that feeling trusted by your manager is great, right? Although feeling trusted
can lead to positive outcomes for employees, it can also lead to negative ones, so it is a
double-edged sword!
About 200 London bus drivers were studied to better understand how employees react
to feeling trusted. The bus drivers spent their time driving routes, but they interacted
with managers at the start and end of the shift as well as throughout the day via radio.
The study found that feeling trusted can lead to positives such as pride. However,
feeling trusted can also make employees see their workload as heavy and it can make
them become concerned about their reputation. This leads to exhaustion and impacts
job performance negatively.6
2. Apologizing after breaking trust
Apologizing after a mistake seems like common sense! Yet, saying “I was wrong and I
am sorry” is not always the best option!
An experiment with almost 700 college students examined trust repair. Researchers
conducted the study by designing an experiment with multiple scenarios based on the
type of trust violation (competence vs. integrity), the response to the violation (apology
vs. denial), the format of the decision (individual vs. group decision) and the decision
order (individual or group first). Results show that fixing broken trust is tougher with
groups than with individuals. Groups and individuals are more trusting if the apology
matches the violation. It is best to apologize for a competence-based violation (i.e., the
violator did not have enough knowledge to accomplish the task) and to deny culpability
for an integrity-based violation (i.e., the violator lied or stole information).7
3. Acknowledge others’ emotions to build trust
If a coworker looks sad or upset, those emotions should be ignored! Although avoidance
is the less risky response, acknowledging these negative emotions can lead to stronger
trust.
Across six different studies with a variety of participants including hospital workers,
researcher found that when employees verbally acknowledge the feelings of others,
they are seen as more trustworthy. In addition, those who recognize feelings (e.g., you
seem annoyed) as opposed to the situation (e.g., looks like your coworkers are
immature) are seen as more trustworthy. Furthermore, when employees’ negative
emotions (e.g., sadness) are acknowledged, they feel seen, so this is a powerful
avenue for increasing trust. 8
What to do next?
Recognize who the highly trusted employees are. Help them (or yourself) avoid
unnecessary responsibility and seek social support.9
If trust is broken, talk to individuals instead of the whole group. Admit guilt and apologize only if the violation was due to a lack of competence!10
Do not be afraid to acknowledge coworkers’ negative feelings. If done authentically, it
can increase trust.11
Endnotes
1 Edelman Trust Barometer (2022)
2 Great Place to Work (2022)
3 Dirks and Ferrin (2002)
4 Mayer et al. (1995)
5 Baer et al. (2018)
6 Baer et al. (2015)
7 Kim et al. (2012)
8 Yu et al. (2021)
9 Baer et al. (2015)
10 Kim et al. (2012)
11 Yu et al. (2021)
References
Baer, M. D., Dhensa-Kahlon, R. K., Colquitt, J. A., Rodell, J. B., Outlaw, R., & Long, D.
M. (2015). Uneasy lies the head that bears the trust: The effects of feeling trusted on
emotional exhaustion. Academy of Management Journal, 58(6), 1637-1657.
Baer, M. D., Matta, F. K., Kim, J. K., Welsh, D. T., & Garud, N. (2018). It's not you, it's
them: Social influences on trust propensity and trust dynamics. Personnel
Psychology, 71(3), 423-455.
Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2002). Trust in leadership: Meta-analytic findings and
implications for research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 611.
Edelman Trust Barometer (2022). “The Trust 10”. Retrieved from: https://
Great Place to Work (2022). “World’s Best Workplace 2022”. Retrieved from: https://
Kim, P. H., Cooper, C. D., Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2013). Repairing trust with
individuals vs. groups. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 120(1), 1-14.1
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of
organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709-734
Yu, A., Berg, J. M., & Zlatev, J. J. (2021). Emotional acknowledgment: How verbalizing
others’ emotions fosters interpersonal trust. Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 164, 116-135.
Author: Dr. Réka Anna Lassu
Dr. Réka Anna Lassu is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Pepperdine University. She researches employee wellbeing and leadership. Réka earned her Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida. Visit www.rekaannalassu.com for more info.
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