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In Whom Collectivists Trust: The Role of (in) Voluntary Social Obligations in Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Oana Branzei ,
Ronald D. Camp II  and
Ilan Vertinsky
Oana Branzei
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario, Canada
Ronald D. Camp II
Affiliation:
University of Regina, Canada
Ilan Vertinsky
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Canada
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Abstract

This study contributes to an emic understanding of how different types of social obligations may help or hinder the formation of initial organizational trust within collectivist cultures. We extend prior social categorization insights by challenging the expectation that in-group favouritism automatically facilitates higher levels of initial trust among collectivists. We theorize and test the asymmetric effects of two different types of social obligations toward members of distinct social categories (kinship and friendship in-groups) on the formation of initial organizational trust. Using a quasi-experimental research design in a collectivist culture (Japan), we hypothesize and show that in ambivalent situations, voluntary social obligations toward members of friendship in-groups encourage early trust in trustees' organizations; however, involuntary social obligations toward members of kinship in-groups discourage early trust development toward the organization these trustees represent. The effects of (in)voluntary social obligations on initial organizational trust are contingent on how collectivists perceive each encounter: voluntary social obligations are more conducive to trust-building at lower levels of perceived opportunity; involuntary social obligations have stronger effects on initial organizational trust at higher levels of perceived risk.

Keywords

collectivismorganizational trustsocial obligations集体主义组织信任社会义务
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , July 2013 , pp. 319 - 343
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2013

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