Role Leader Competence Plays in the Trust-Building Process

摘要

This study focused on testing a portion of Kelley and Thibaut's trust-buildingmodel. This model asserted that an individual could earn an attribution of dependability by: behaving cooperatively, sharing similar interests, and sharing interdependence with the other person. The model suggested that an individual's competence was a separate factor and that it did not influence the earning of an attribution of dependability. However, the author hypothesized that in military leader-follower relationships, competence was a significant factor in a leader earning an attribution of dependability. In addition, the author hypothesized a strong, positive relationship between a leader's perceived dependability and the follower's willingness to trust the leader. Similarly, the author hypothesized a strong, positive relationship between followers' trust in the leader and their willingness to be influenced (lead) by the leader. The hypotheses were tested using a two-by-two factorial design which manipulated leader's competence and Kelley and Thibaut's three factors for earning an attribution of dependability as one variable. The results supported all hypotheses.