08.07.06
Trust Me
Three professors at Wharton University recently conducted a study on trust which yielded some interesting results that can be applied to business. Some of the findings might seem like common sense, but they merit a closer look.
The study explored the important role trust plays, not just in our social lives, but in our business lives as well. “Trust is the social glue that holds things together. It allows us to engage in social and commercial ventures,” says co-author Maurice E. Schweitzer. “You can’t contract everything. We develop relationships that are based on trusting that things will work out.”
The study looked at a scenario where trust was harmed by untrustworthy behavior as compared to deceptive behavior, and how subsequent trustworthy behavior, apologies and promises influenced trust recovery. Probably not surprising to most of us would be the finding that trust was more difficult to reestablish when deception was involved. In fact, a violation of trust involving deception “causes significant and enduring harm”.
Trust was difficult to reestablish in both scenarios, a simple apology and promise not to do it again didn’t speed along the recovery process when deception was involved. For long-term business and social relationships, this can translate into a very slow “recovery” period. However, a combination of observable trustworthy actions and sincere apologies by people trying to repair broken trust can go a long way.
The study and supporting paper, “Promises and Lies: Restoring Violated Trust” will be published in an upcoming issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. You can download the paper by clicking here.
