WHEN TRUST MATTERS - THE MODERATING EFFECT OF OUTCOME FAVORABILITY

The studies reported here evaluated the conditions under which the rel ationship between employees' trust in and support for organizational a uthorities will be more or less pronounced. We hypothesized that emplo yees' trust in organizational authorities would be more strongly relat ed to their support for the authorities when they perceived the outcom es associated with authorities' decisions to be relatively unfavorable . The results of three field studies, in markedly different contexts, supported this prediction. In essence, the establishment of trust seem s to be a potent force in overcoming the otherwise adverse reactions t hat employees may exhibit in reaction to decisions yielding unfavorabl e outcomes. Theoretical implications for the literatures on organizati onal trust and organizational justice are discussed, as are some pract ical implications and limitations of the studies.