Abstract:

A meta-analysis was conducted to explore the effect of lateral trust, vertical trust, and system trust within organizations on creativity. Eighty-five relevant studies were taken into research, with a total of 99 independent effect sizes. Among them, there were 41 independent samples about the relationship between lateral trust and creativity, 34 independent samples about the relationship between vertical trust and creativity and 24 independent samples about the relationship between system trust and creativity. Meta-analysis results revealed a significant positive relationship between lateral trust (r = 0.50), vertical trust (r = 0.38), system trust (r = 0.48) and creativity. The relationship between lateral trust, vertical trust, system trust and creativity were moderated by the tools and surveys employed to investigate trust. Whilst, moderating effect of cultural background and knowledge were not significant.

Key words: lateral trust, vertical trust, system trust, creativity, meta-analysis