Fostering Work Engagement through State and Trait Trust: Evidence from Irish University Research Centres

The central aim of this research was to examine the impact of state and trait trust on employees’ levels of work engagement. More specifically, in this study, the three forms of state trust - trust in top management, trust in direct supervisor and trust in team members, as well as trait trust (trust propensity) - were hypothesised as antecedents of work engagement. Furthermore, it was proposed that organizational identification, affective commitment to the supervisor and team psychological safety will mediate the effects of trust in top management, trust in direct supervisor and trust in team members on work engagement respectively. Finally, the relationship of work engagement with a variety of work outcomes such as, in-role job performance, innovative work behaviour, feedback seeking, error communication and organizational commitment, as well as the mediating effects of learning goal orientation on these relationships were investigated. Using survey data from 152 research scientists, drawn from six university science research centres operating in Ireland, the hypotheses were tested through hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The results of this study showed that as hypothesised, organizational identification, affective commitment to the supervisor, and team psychological safety fully mediated the effects of trust in top management, trust in direct supervisor, and trust in team members on work engagement respectively. Moreover, the findings of this study indicated that trust propensity was also positively and significantly related to work engagement. Additionally, it was found that learning goal orientation partially mediated the effects of work engagement on in-role job performance, innovative work behaviour, feedback seeking and error communication, while it did not mediate the relationship between work engagement and organizational commitment. On the basis of these findings, recommendations were made for the management of research centres and for future research directions.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Dublin City University

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Chughtai , Aamir Ali

• Personnel management

Language dc:language

en