Journal of Student Research 2018

24 Journal Student Research monitoring trust. Davis et al. (1995) proposed the definition of trust that is appropriate for current research do to the word risk that implies risk in an occupational setting. Costa and Anderson (2011) specify different types of trust that are related to work groups and the developing stages of trust in work groups. Applied to work, the definition of trust implies vulnerability between individuals within a work group with shared responsibilities needing to complete a task (Gambetta, 1988). Much of the previous research on trust in the work place has focused on the relationship between supervisors and their employees (Grant & Sumanth, 2009; Spector & Jones, 2004), and not between coworkers directly. While some work has examined team member trust dynamics, much of this work has focused on strangers in an experimental lab setting or students in a classroom setting. The purpose of the current study is to examine some of the correlates of trust amongst coworkers. Specifically, this study will examine how perceptions of similarity between coworkers, sex, and perceptions of the quality of the work produced by a team influence the self-reported feelings of trust. One factor that has been found to predict the amount of trust in supervisor-employee relationships is the amount of perceived similarity there is between the individuals (Grant & Sumanth, 2009; Lau & Liden, 2008; Schaubroeck & Lam, 2002). By perceiving others as like oneself, there is more likely to be a trusting relationship. Interestingly, similarity between supervisors and their employees has been found to positively predict an employees’ likelihood of being promoted (Schaubroeck & Lam, 2002). For example, tellers from a multinational bank completed a survey questionnaire measuring personality similarities between an individual and their supervisor. Tellers who had personalities more like their supervisors were more likely to be promoted. Additionally, Grant and Sumanth (2009) found that trusting relationships with one’s supervisor resulted in increased motivation and perceived value for job tasks. Task significance is the idea that employees consciously feel that the tasks they need to do will require quality and efficient work. Employees who viewed their managers as more trustworthy perceived their job tasks as more significant. Interestingly, this increased perception of task significance led to an increase in job performance as well (Grant & Sumanth, 2009). Manager trustworthiness has also been found to not only predict employee performance, but also to increase the amount of trust of the other employees as well. Lau and Liden (2008) examined how the trust one has for their supervisor impacted the trust they had for their coworkers. Specifically, Predictors of Trust in the Workplace