Task and Relationship-Oriented Trust in Leaders

The study presented in this paper examines the relative influence of competence, consistency and motivational intention upon the defined task and relationship dimensions of trust in leaders. A sample of 345 part- and full-time employees provided survey responses regarding their perceptions of their direct supervisors. Results indicate that competence and consistency explain more variance in task than in relationship-oriented trust. Motivational intention explained more variance in relationship than in task-oriented trust. The results, practical implications, limitations and future research opportunities are discussed.