Impersonal trust: The development of the construct and the scale

Abstract

Purpose

Modern organizations face an increasing need for trust, yet there are fewer opportunities for the development and maintenance of interpersonal trust, so they cannot rely only on that. There is therefore a need for complementary forms of organizational trust. It is believed that the impersonal element of organizational trust is a useful concept and should be incorporated into the measures. This paper seeks to conceptualize and clarify the impersonal element of organizational trust and develop scales on which to measure it.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypothesized model is tested on a sample of 166 respondents with different organizational backgrounds. Confirmatory factor analysis is used.

Findings

It was found that impersonal trust in the organizational context consists of two dimensions: capability and fairness, the final scales containing 18 and 13 items, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

A more holistic approach to organizational trust is proposed and a measuring instrument for the impersonal element is provided.

Practical implications

It is suggested that organizational trust is critical for contemporary organizations. Further evaluation and development of the concept require a comprehensive measurement instrument incorporating both interpersonal and impersonal elements. This paper identifies the conceptual domain for the less studied impersonal element of organizational trust, and provides a measurement scale.

Originality/value

The construct of impersonal trust and the measurement scale developed and validated in this study represent a step forward towards the effective and reliable measurement of organizational trust. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, operationally valid measure of impersonal trust.

Citation

Vanhala, M., Puumalainen, K. and Blomqvist, K. (2011), "Impersonal trust: The development of the construct and the scale", Personnel Review, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 485-513. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481111133354