In research on trust in the organizational context, there is some agreement evolving that trust should be measured with respect to various foci. The Workplace Trust Survey (WTS) by Ferres (2002) provides reliable assessment of coworker, supervisor, and organizational trust. By means of a functionally equivalent translation, we developed a German version of the questionnaire (G-WTS) comprising 21 items. A total of 427 employees were surveyed with the G-WTS and questionnaires concerning several work-related attitudes and behaviors and 92 of these completed the survey twice. The hypothesized three-dimensional conceptualization of organizational trust was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The G-WTS showed good internal consistency and retest reliability values. Concerning convergent validity, all of the three G-WTS dimensions positively predicted job satisfaction. In terms of discriminant validity, Coworker Trust enhanced group cohesion; Supervisor Trust fostered innovative behavior, while Organizational Trust was associated with affective commitment. Theoretical and practical contributions as well as opportunities for future research with the G-WTS are discussed.
Organizational trust seen from the perspective of Adaptive Complex Systems
