Does distrust motivate or discourage employees? The double-edged sword effect of feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2021.01376

Abstract

Abstract:

Feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors is an important part of trust research. Previous research has revealed that feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors is detrimental to employees’ self-concept. Nevertheless, this prevailing assumption leaves our understandings of trust incomplete. Traditional Chinese management practice (e.g., “Jijiangfa”) has suggested that supervisors’ distrust may encourage employees to prove themselves. To address this question, drawing from self-evaluation and psychological reactance theories, we examine the effects of feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors on employees’ self-concept through two field studies and an experiment. Results showed that when perceived supervisor competence was high, feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors was negatively associated with job self-efficacy, which in turn, decreased employee work effort and job performance; when perceived supervisor competence was low, feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors was positively associated with employee’s desire to prove their abilities, which in turn increased employee work effort and job performance.

Key words: feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors, perceived supervisor competence, job self-efficacy, desire to prove ability, work effort

LU Hailing, YANG Yang, WANG Yongli, ZHANG Xin, TAN Ling. (2021). Does distrust motivate or discourage employees? The double-edged sword effect of feeling ability-distrusted by supervisors. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 53(12), 1376-1392.

Figures/Tables 12

References 74

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Variables	M	SD	1	2	3
1. Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors manipulation	0.50	0.50
2. Perceived supervisor competence manipulation	0.50	0.50	0
3. Job self-efficacy	3.76	0.71	-0.20^**	-0.13
4. Desire to prove ability	4.02	0.84	0.21^**	0.26^**	0.15

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3
1. Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors manipulation	0.50	0.50
2. Perceived supervisor competence manipulation	0.50	0.50	0
3. Job self-efficacy	3.76	0.71	-0.20^**	-0.13
4. Desire to prove ability	4.02	0.84	0.21^**	0.26^**	0.15

Variables	Job self-efficacy		Desire to prove ability
Variables	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
Constant	3.76^***(0.05)	3.87^***(0.08)	4.02^***(0.06)	4.14^***(0.09)
Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors manipulation	-0.29^**(0.11)	-0.07(0.15)	0.34^**(0.12)	0.59^**(0.17)
Perceived supervisor competence manipulation	-0.18(0.11)	-0.04(0.15)	0.43^**(0.12)	0.68^***(0.17)
Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors manipulation × Perceived supervisor competence manipulation		-0.44^*(0.22)		-0.50^*(0.25)
R²	0.06	0.08	0.11	0.13
ΔR²		0.02^*		0.02^*
F	4.81^**	4.66^**	9.72^***	7.99^***

Variables	Job self-efficacy		Desire to prove ability
Variables	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
Constant	3.76^***(0.05)	3.87^***(0.08)	4.02^***(0.06)	4.14^***(0.09)
Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors manipulation	-0.29^**(0.11)	-0.07(0.15)	0.34^**(0.12)	0.59^**(0.17)
Perceived supervisor competence manipulation	-0.18(0.11)	-0.04(0.15)	0.43^**(0.12)	0.68^***(0.17)
Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors manipulation × Perceived supervisor competence manipulation		-0.44^*(0.22)		-0.50^*(0.25)
R²	0.06	0.08	0.11	0.13
ΔR²		0.02^*		0.02^*
F	4.81^**	4.66^**	9.72^***	7.99^***

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1. Gender		0.08	-0.05	0.04	0.06	-0.05	0.10	-0.04	-0.04	-0.12^*
2 Age	-0.01		-0.26^***	0.29^***	0.04	-0.07	0.24^***	0.06	-0.03	0.004
3 Education	-0.03	-0.29^***		-0.09	-0.01	-0.03	-0.08	-0.10	-0.01	-0.01
4. Dyadic tenure	0.09	0.45^**	-0.15^*		-0.03	-0.01	0.17^**	0.06	0.01	0.18^**
5. Feeling ability-distrusted by their supervisors	0.09	0.18^*	-0.16^*	0.25^***		-0.45^***	-0.25^***	-0.09	-0.12	-0.19^**
6. Perceived supervisor competence	-0.10	-0.19^**	0.19^**	-0.16^*	-0.54^***		0.25^***	0.18^**	0.26^***	0.27^***
7. Job self-efficacy	0.01	-0.14^*	0.18^*	0.06	-0.23^**	0.40^***		0.30^***	0.51^***	0.26^***
8. Desire to prove ability	-0.12	-0.08	0.09	0.00	-0.07	0.31^***	0.22^**		0.44^***	0.14^*
9. Work effort	-0.08	-0.14	0.17^*	-0.04	-0.33^***	0.43^***	0.30^***	0.58^***		0.20^**
10. Job performance	0.02	-0.06	0.17^*	-0.07	-0.17^*	0.17^*	0.10	0.17^*	0.22^**
M₂	0.17	35.50	2.07	4.38	2.41	4.22	3.89	3.66	3.93	4.26
SD₂	0.38	6.63	0.76	3.45	1.15	0.77	0.67	0.82	0.70	0.64
M₃	0.64	32.77	2.21	4.04	1.89	4.42	4.29	3.63	4.17	4.28
SD₃	0.48	7.56	0.89	3.71	0.87	0.69	0.62	0.87	0.77	0.62