Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-28T02:58:01.731Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Trust differences across national–societal cultures: much to do, or much ado about nothing?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Donald L. Ferrin  and
Nicole Gillespie
Edited by
Mark N. K. Saunders ,
Denise Skinner ,
Graham Dietz ,
Nicole Gillespie  and
Roy J. Lewicki
Donald L. Ferrin
Affiliation:
Singapore Management University
Nicole Gillespie
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Mark N. K. Saunders
Affiliation:
University of Surrey
Denise Skinner
Affiliation:
Coventry University
Graham Dietz
Affiliation:
University of Durham
Nicole Gillespie
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Roy J. Lewicki
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Get access

Summary

Summary

Does trust and its development, functions and meaning, differ between people from different national–societal cultures? There is considerable anecdotal evidence and some theoretical argumentation to suggest it does, but are these supported by empirical research? This chapter reviews the available empirical evidence on the effects of national–societal culture on interpersonal trust. It focuses largely on quantitative empirical evidence to consider the extent to which, and the ways in which, interpersonal trust differs across national–societal cultures. In every category of our review we found evidence of cross-cultural differences, particularly on generalized trust, and also evidence of trust universals across cultures. In evaluating these findings, we conclude that trust may operate as a variform universal and variform functional universal. We conclude with two proposed routes for future research, and implications for practice.

Introduction

To an ever-increasing extent, ‘work’ involves close interaction and cooperation with people who come from a national–societal cultural background different from one's own. This emerging reality of work can be attributed to a number of factors. First, with the unrelenting advance of globalization, more and more organizations are taking a global approach to operations, including the operation of overseas international joint ventures and alliances, working with offshore suppliers and customers, and conducting global searches for talent. Second, the advance of communication technologies such as e-mail and videoconferencing has fostered a movement toward global virtual teams involving individuals from a variety of different cultural backgrounds.

Type
Chapter
Information
Organizational Trust
A Cultural Perspective
 , pp. 42 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguinis, H. and Henle, C. A. 2003. ‘The search for universals in cross-cultural organizational behavior’. In Greenberg, J. (ed.) Organizational Behavior: the State of the Science, 2nd edn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 373–411.Google Scholar
Bass, B. M. 1997. ‘Does the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries?’ American Psychologist, 52, 130–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botti, H. F. 1995. ‘Misunderstandings: a Japanese transplant in Italy strives for lean production’. Organization, 2, 55–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branzei, O., Vertinsky, I. and Camp II, R. D. 2007. ‘Culture-contingent signs of trust in emergent relationships’. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104, 61–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M. B. 1981. ‘Ethnocentrism and its role in interpersonal trust’. In Brewer, M. B. and Collins, B. E. (eds.) Scientific Inquiry and the Social Sciences. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 345–60.Google Scholar
*Buchan, N. R. and Croson, R. T. A. 2004. ‘The boundaries of trust: own and others’ actions in the US and China'. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 55, 485–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Buchan, N. R., Croson, R. T. A. and Dawes, R. M. 2002. ‘Swift neighbors and persistent strangers: a cross-cultural investigation of trust and reciprocity in social exchange’. American Journal of Sociology, 108, 168–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Buchan, N. R., Johnson, E. J. and Croson, R. T. A. 2006. ‘Let's get personal: an international examination of the influence of communication, culture and social distance on other regarding preferences’. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 60, 373–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Bürger, J., Luke, M. and Indeláová, H. 2006. ‘Interpersonal trust in German–Czech work relations: mutual expectations and suggestions for improvement’. Journal of Organizational Transformation & Social Change, 3, 173–99.Google Scholar
*Casimir, G., Waldman, D. A., Bartram, T. and Yang, S. 2006. ‘Trust and the relationship between leadership and follower performance: opening the black box in Australia and China’. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 12, 68–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chao, G. T. and Moon, H. 2005. ‘The cultural mosaic: a metatheory for understanding the complexity of culture’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1128–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, C. C., Chen, X.-P. and Meindl, J. R. 1998. ‘How can cooperation be fostered? The cultural effects of individualism-collectivism’. Academy of Management Review, 23, 285–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Child, J. and Möllering, G. 2003. ‘Contextual confidence and active trust development in the Chinese business environment’. Organization Science, 14, 69–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A. and LePine, J. A. 2007. ‘Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: a meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job performance’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 909–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
*Cook, K. S., Yamagishi, T., Cheshire, C., Cooper, R., Matsuda, M. and Mashima, R. 2005. ‘Trust building via risk taking: a cross-societal experiment’. Social Psychology Quarterly, 68, 121–42.Google Scholar
*Delhey, J. and Newton, K. 2005. ‘Predicting cross-national levels of social trust: global pattern or Nordic exceptionalism?’ European Sociological Review, 21, 311–27.Google Scholar
Dickson, M. W., Hanges, P. J. and Lord, R. G. 2001. ‘Trends, developments and gaps in cross-cultural research on leadership’. Advances in Global Leadership, 2, 75–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Ding, Z. and Ng, F. 2007. ‘Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of McAllister's trust scale’. Construction Management & Economics, 25, 1105–15.Google Scholar
Dirks, K. T. and Ferrin, D. L. 2002. ‘Trust in leadership: meta-analytic findings and implications for research and practice’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 611–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doney, P. M., Cannon, J. P. and Mullen, M. R. 1998. ‘Understanding the influence of national culture on the development of trust’. Academy of Management Review, 23, 601–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Earley, P. C. 1986. ‘Trust, perceived importance of praise and criticism, and work performance: an examination of feedback in the United States and England’. Journal of Management, 12, 457–73.Google Scholar
Elsbach, K. D. 2004. ‘Managing images of trustworthiness in organizations’. In Kramer, R. M. and Cook, K. S. (eds.) Trust and Distrust in Organizations: Dilemmas and Approaches. New York: Sage, 275–92.Google Scholar
Ferrin, D. L., Bligh, M. C. and Kohles, J. C. 2008. ‘It takes two to tango: an interdependence analysis of the spiraling of perceived trustworthiness and cooperation in interpersonal and intergroup relationships’. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 107, 161–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Ferrin, D. L., Dirks, K. T. and Shah, P. P. 2006. ‘Direct and indirect effects of third-party relationships on interpersonal trust’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 870–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
*Ferrin, D. L., Kim, P. H., Cooper, C. D. and Dirks, K. T. 2007. ‘Silence speaks volumes: the effectiveness of reticence in comparison to apology and denial for responding to integrity- and competence-based trust violations’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 893–908.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Filbeck, G. and Preece, D. 2003. ‘Fortune's best 100 companies to work for in America: do they work for shareholders?’ Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 30, 771–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fukuyama, F. 1995. Trust: the Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Gibson, C. B., Maznevski, M. L. and Kirkman, B. L. 2008. ‘When does culture matter?’ In Bhagat, R. S. and Steer, R. M (eds.) Handbook of Culture, Organizations, and Work. Cambridge University Press, 46–70.Google Scholar
Hanges, P. J., Lord, R. G. and Dickson, M. W. 2000. ‘An information-processing perspective on leadership and culture: a case for connectionist architecture’. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49, 133–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Hayashi, C., Suzuki, T., Suzuki, G. and Murakami, M. 1982. A Study of Japanese National Character(in Japanese with an English summary) (Vol. IV). Tokyo: Idemitsushoten.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 1980. Culture's Consequences: National Differences in Thinking and Organizing. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 2001. Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. and Bond, M. H. 1988. ‘The Confucius connection: from cultural roots to economic growth’. Organizational Dynamics, 16, 5–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Holm, H. and Danielson, A. 2005. ‘Tropic trust versus Nordic trust: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Sweden’. Economic Journal, 115, 505–32.Google Scholar
*Huff, L. and Kelley, L. 2003. ‘Levels of organizational trust in individualist versus collectivist societies: a seven-nation study’. Organization Science, 14, 81–90.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R., Basáñez, M. and Moreno, A. 1998. Human Cultures and Beliefs: A Cross-Cultural Sourcebook: Political, Religious, Sexual, and Economic Norms in 43 societies: Findings from the 1990–1993. World Values Survey. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
*Jarvenpaa, S. L. and Leidner, D. E. 1999. ‘Communication and trust in global virtual teams’. Organization Science, 10, 791–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Johnson, J. L. and Cullen, J. B. 2002. ‘Trust in cross-cultural relationships’. In Gannon, M. J. and Newman, K. (eds.) The Blackwell Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 335–60.Google Scholar
Jung, D. I. and Avolio, B. J. 1998. ‘Examination of transformational leadership and group process among Caucasion- and Asian-Americans: are they different?’ Research in International Business and International Relations, 7, 29–66.Google Scholar
Kerr, S. 1995. ‘On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B’. The Academy of Management Executive, 9, 7–14.Google Scholar
*Kim, U., Helgesen, G. and Ahn, B. M. 2002. ‘Democracy, trust, and political efficacy: comparative analysis of Danish and Korean political culture’. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51, 318–53.Google Scholar
Kirkman, B. L. and Shapiro, D. L. 1997. ‘The impact of cultural values on employee resistance to teams: toward a model of globalized self-managing work team effectiveness’. Academy of Management Review, 22, 730–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Kiyonari, T., Foddy, M. and Yamagishi, T. 2007. ‘Effects of direct and indirect exchange on trust of in-group members’ [in Japanese]. Japanese Journal of Psychology, 77, 519–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Knack, S. and Keefer, P. 1997. ‘Does social capital have an economic payoff? A cross-country investigation’. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112, 1251–88.Google Scholar
Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U. and Fehr, E. 2005. ‘Oxytocin increases trust in humans’. Nature, 435, 673–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
*Kühlmann, T. M. 2005. ‘Formation of trust in German–Mexican business relations’. In Bijlsma-Frankema, K. M. and Woolthuis, R. Klein (eds.) Trust under Pressure: Empirical Investigations of Trust and Trust Building in Uncertain Circumstances. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 35–53.Google Scholar
*Kuwabara, K., Willer, R., Macy, M. W., Mashima, R., Terai, S. and Yamagishi, T. 2007. ‘Culture, identity, and structure in social exchange: a web-based trust experiment in the United States and Japan’. Social Psychology Quarterly, 70, 461–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Lee, C., Pillutla, M. and Law, K. S. 2000. ‘Power-distance, gender and organizational justice’. Journal of Management, 26, 685–704.Google Scholar
Lewicki, R. J. and Bunker, B. B. 1996. ‘Developing and maintaining trust in work relationships’. In Kramer, R. M. and Tyler, T. R. (eds.) Trust in Organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 114–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lonner, W. J. 1980. ‘The search for psychological universals’. In Triandis, H. C. and Lambert, W. W. (eds.) Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 143–204.Google Scholar
*Luo, Y. 2002. ‘Building trust in cross-cultural collaborations: toward a contingency perspective’. Journal of Management, 28, 669–94.Google Scholar
*Mashima, R., Yamagishi, T. and Macy, M. 2004. ‘Trust and cooperation: a comparison of ingroup preference and trust behavior between American and Japanese students’. Japanese Journal of Psychology, 75, 308–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
*Matsuda, Y., Harsel, S., Furusawa, S., Kim, H.-S. and Quarles, J. 2001. ‘Democratic values and mutual perceptions of human rights in four Pacific Rim nations’. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25, 405–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, R. C. and Davis, J. H. 1999. ‘The effect of the performance appraisal system on trust for management: a field quasi-experiment’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 123–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H. and Schoorman, F. D. 1995. ‘An integrative model of organizational trust’. Academy of Management Review, 20, 709–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*McAllister, D. J. 1995. ‘Affect- and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations’. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 24–59.Google Scholar
Molinsky, A. 2007. ‘Cross-cultural code-switching: the psychological challenges of adapting behavior in foreign cultural interactions’. Academy of Management Review, 622–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Newell, S., David, G. and Chand, D. 2007. ‘An analysis of trust among globally distributed work teams in an organizational setting’. Knowledge and Process Management, 14, 158–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Nishishiba, M. and Ritchie, L. D. 2000. ‘The concept of trustworthiness: a cross-cultural comparison between Japanese and U.S. business people’. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 28, 347–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noorderhaven, N. G. 1999. ‘National culture and the development of trust: the need for more data and less theory’. Academy of Management Review, 24, 9–10.Google Scholar
*Park, H., Gowan, M. and Hwang, S. D. 2002. ‘Impact of national origin and entry mode on trust and organizational commitment’. Multinational Business Review, 10, 52–61.Google Scholar
*Paxton, P. 2002. ‘Social capital and democracy: an interdependent relationship’. American Sociological Review, 67, 254–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Pearce, J. L., Branyiczki, I. and Bigley, G. A. 2000. ‘Insufficient bureaucracy: trust and commitment in particularistic organizations’. Organization Science, 11, 148–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Polzer, J. T., Crisp, C. B., Jarvenpaa, S. L. and Kim, J. W. 2006. ‘Extending the faultline model to geographically dispersed teams: how colocated subgroups can impair group functioning’. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 679–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Pornpitakpan, C. 1998. ‘The effect of cultural adaptation on perceived trustworthiness’. Journal of Global Marketing, 11, 41–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2002. ‘The effect of cultural adaptation on perceived trustworthiness: Americans adapting to People's Republic of China Chinese’. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 15, 25–41.
Hofstede, G. 2004. ‘The effect of Americans’ adaptation to Malaysians on perceived trustworthiness'. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 16, 7–23.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 2005. ‘The effect of cultural adaptation on perceived trustworthiness: Americans adapting to Chinese Indonesians’. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 17, 70–88.Google Scholar
*Resick, C. J., Hanges, P. J., Dickson, M. W. and Mitchelson, J. K. 2006. ‘A cross-cultural examination of the endorsement of ethical leadership’. Journal of Business Ethics, 63, 345–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reysen, S. 2006. ‘Publication of nonsignificant results: a survey of psychologists’ opinions'. Psychological Reports, 98, 169–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
*Rodríguez, C. M. and Wilson, D. T. 2002. ‘Relationship bonding and trust as a foundation for commitment in U.S.–Mexican strategic alliances: a structural equation modeling approach’. Journal of International Marketing, 10, 53–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, R. 1979. ‘The “file drawer problem” and tolerance for null results’. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 638–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rotter, J. B. 1971. ‘Generalized expectancies for interpersonal trust’. American Psychologist, 26, 443–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rousseau, D. M., Sitkin, S. B., Burt, R. S. and Camerer, C. 1998. ‘Not so different after all: a cross-discipline view of trust’. Academy of Management Review, 23, 393–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Sapsford, R. and Abbott, P. 2006. ‘Trust, confidence and social environment in post-communist societies’. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 39, 59–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Slemrod, J. and Katušcásk, P. 2005. ‘Do trust and trustworthiness pay off?’ Journal of Human Resources, 40, 621–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Sullivan, J., Peterson, R. B., Kameda, N. and Shimada, J. 1981. ‘The relationship between conflict resolution approaches and trust: a cross cultural study’. Academy of Management Journal, 24, 803–15.Google Scholar
*Takahashi, C., Yamagishi, T., Liu, J. H., Wang, F., Lin, Y. and Yu, S. 2008. ‘The intercultural trust paradigm: studying joint cultural interaction and social exchange in real time over the Internet’. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32, 215–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Tan, H. H. and Chee, D. 2005. ‘Understanding interpersonal trust in a Confucian-influenced society: an exploratory study’. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management: 5, 197–212.Google Scholar
*Tan, H. H., Wasti, S. A. and Eser, S. 2007. ‘Location, location, location: antecedents of trust across hierarchical and geographical positions’. Paper presented at the European Group for Organisation Studies.
*Testa, M. R. 2002. ‘Leadership dyads in the cruise industry: the impact of cultural congruency’. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 21, 425–41.Google Scholar
*Thomas, D. C. and Ravlin, E. C. 1995. ‘Responses of employees to cultural adaptation by a foreign manager’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 133–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Tillmar, M. 2006. ‘Swedish tribalism and Tanzanian entrepreneurship: preconditions for trust formation’. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 18, 91–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tjosvold, D., Hui, C. and Law, K. S. 2001. ‘Cooperative conflict in China: cooperative conflict as a bridge between East and West’. Journal of World Business, 36, 166–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triandis, H. C. 1994. Culture and Social Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 1995. Individualism and Collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
*Van Dyne, L., Vandewalle, D., Kostova, T., Latham, M. E. and Cummings, L. L. 2000. ‘Collectivism, propensity to trust and self-esteem as predictors of organizational citizenship in a non-work setting’. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 3–23.3.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Wasti, S. A., Tan, H. H., Brower, H. H. and Önder, Ç. 2007. ‘Cross-cultural measurement of supervisor trustworthiness: an assessment of measurement invariance across three cultures’. The Leadership Quarterly, 18, 477–89.Google Scholar
Wu, J. and Laws, D. 2003. ‘Trust and other-anxiety in negotiations: dynamics across boundaries of self and culture’. Negotiation Journal, 19, 329–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Yamagishi, T. 1988. ‘The provision of a sanctioning system in the United States and Japan’. Social Psychology Quarterly, 51, 265–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Yamagishi, T. and Yamagishi, M. 1994. ‘Trust and commitment in the United States and Japan. Motivation & Emotion, 18(2), 129–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Yamagishi, T., Cook, K. S. and Watabe, M. 1998. ‘Uncertainty, trust, and commitment formation in the United States and Japan’. American Journal of Sociology, 104, 165–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Yuki, M., Maddux, W. W., Brewer, M. B. and Takemura, K. 2005. ‘Cross-cultural differences in relationship- and group-based trust’. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 48–62.Google ScholarPubMed
*Zak, P. J. and Fakhar, A. 2006. ‘Neuroactive hormones and interpersonal trust: international evidence’. Economics & Human Biology, 4, 412–29.Google ScholarPubMed
*Zak, P. J. and Knack, S. 2001. ‘Trust and growth’. The Economic Journal, 111, 295–321.Google Scholar
*Zolin, R., Hinds, P. J., Fruchter, R. and Levitt, R. E. 2004. ‘Interpersonal trust in cross-functional, geographically distributed work: a longitudinal study’. Information and Organization, 14, 1–26.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×