Trust Between Managers and Subordinates in Virtual Communities

Trust is a relationship between individuals. It requires that one individual believe that the other person or an idea is is ethical based on ethical behavior (Hosmer, 1995). Trust develops as a result of an individual’s propensity to trust, combined with appropriate and relatively equal exchanges of social capital over time. In the case of the manager–subordinate dyad, the subordinate exchanges services (performance) for money. If the manager determines that the subordinate is not earning the money paid for services (e.g., the subordinate performs poorly), then an unequal exchange takes place, reducing the manager’s trust of the subordinate.