Abstract

Trust is an important element of relationships in organizations; however, it frequently is broken and requires repair. Research has provided insight into the cognitive mechanisms underlying trust repair. Surprisingly, however—given that trust violations are often highly emotional events—the role of emotions has been overlooked. My dissertation looks at the roles that emotions play in this process, with a particular focus on anger. Drawing on trust research and theories of emotions, I identify two routes through which emotions can impact trust repair. One route is intrapersonal: felt anger leads the victim to ruminate about the trust violation, making them less receptive to trust repair efforts. A second route is interpersonal: the victim expresses their anger at the transgressor, inciting emotions in the transgressor that affect their expression of repentance, an ingredient for trust repair. My dissertation provides theoretic insight into the role of emotions in trust repair, including how emotions relate to mechanisms identified by prior research. In addition to revealing underappreciated reasons why trust repair is difficult, my research identifies potential solutions to this important problem. My dissertation also provides the foundation needed to foster a continuing stream of research on the relationship between trust and emotions.

Committee Chair

Kurt T. Dirks

Committee Members

William P. Bottom, Hengchen Dai, Hillary Anger Elfenbein, Andrew P. Knight,

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Business Administration

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

Summer 8-15-2020

Language

English (en)

Author's ORCID

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8161-575X

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Business Commons

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