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PSI CHI: The International Honor Society in Psychology

The International Honor Society in Psychology

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Influence of Leader Trust on Policy Agreement

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by John P. Steele and John N. Pinto - Morningside College

Categories: I/O | Social


Organizations need to know the basis on which new policies are evaluated by employees and the variables that influence the adoption of policies and ideas. Based upon prior research, one factor that may play a significant role in this evaluation is subordinate/leader trust. The present study attempted to ascertain the influence of trust on evaluation of an organizational policy based upon message support. Ninety-three participants (teachers) read a memo indicating support or nonsupport for an organizational policy (new teacher certification) by their direct supervisor (school principal) with accompanying rationale for the position. In addition, participants self-reported their level of trust in their direct supervisor using the Behavioral Trust Inventory (BTI). Results indicate the higher the level of trust in the direct supervisor, the higher the extent of subordinate agreement, regardless of the position taken by the principal. No other variables studied such as length of relationship, years teaching, age, and gender were related to subordinate agreement.

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