Justice, Trust, and Trustworthiness: a Longitudinal Analysis Integrating Three Theoretical Perspectives

Despite a significant amount of theoretical and empirical attention, the connection between justice and trust remains poorly understood. Our study utilized Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman’s (1995) distinction between trustworthiness (the ability, benevolence, and integrity of a trustee) and trust (a willingness to be vulnerable to the trustee) to clarify that connection. More specifically, we drew on a theoretical integration of social exchange theory, the relational model, and fairness heuristic theory to derive predictions about the relationships among justice, trustworthiness, and trust, with supervisors as the referent. A longitudinal field study stretching over two periods showed that informational justice was a significant predictor of subsequent trust perceptions, even when analyses controlled for prior levels of trust and trustworthiness. However, the relationship between justice and trustworthiness was shown to be reciprocal. Procedural and interpersonal justice were significant predictors of subsequent levels of benevolence and integrity, with integrity predicting subsequent levels of all four justice dimensions. We describe the theoretical implications of these results for future research in the justice and trust literatures.