Revisiting Trust in Symbolic Interaction: Presentations of Trust Development in University Administration

Tim Gawley

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.3.2.03

Authors

Tim Gawley Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.3.2.03

Keywords:

Trust, Symbolic Interaction, Erving Goffman, Qualitative Methods, Educational Administration, Leadership

Abstract

Trust development has been studied from many sociological perspectives. Despite its early ventures, a perspective that lags in its attendance to trust is symbolic interaction. Using data drawn from twenty four semi-structured interviews with Canadian university administrators (UAs), this paper revisits a Goffman-influenced conceptualization proposed by Henslin (1968) to frame the analysis of four trust development tactics: being visible, expressing sincerity and personalization, showing the face and establishing routine activity. Resistance encountered during trust development is also discussed. Findings are compared with previous studies of trust in professional, leadership and everyday life settings. The implications of this paper for future symbolic interactionist forays into the areas of trust and administration are also discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Tim Gawley, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Tim Gawley (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Leadership at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus, Canada. He teaches research methods and evaluation research in Laurier Brantford’s multidisciplinary Contemporary Studies, Criminology and Leadership programs. His current interests are symbolic interactionist theory, qualitative methods and the sociology of occupations and professions.

References

Baert, Patrick and Alan Shipman (2005) “University under Siege? Trust and Accountability in the Contemporary Academy.” European Societies 7:157-185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1461669042000327063

Barber, Bernard (1983) The Logic and Limits of Trust. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Bigus, Odis E. (1972) “The Milkman and his Customer: A Cultivated Relationship.” Urban Life and Culture 1(July):131-165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124167200100201

Blumer, Herbert (1969) Symbolic Interaction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bottery, Mike (2003) “The Management and Mismanagement of Trust.” Educational Management and Administration 31(3):245-261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0263211X03031003003

Buchan, Nancy R., Rachel T.A. Crosen and Robyn M. Dawes (2002) “Swift Neighbors and Persistent Strangers: A Cross-cultural Investigation of Trust and Reciprocity in Social Exchange.” American Journal of Sociology 108(1):168-206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/344546

Buskens, Vincent and Jeroen Weesie (2000) “An Experiment of the Effects of Embeddedness in Trust Situations. Buying a Used Car.” Rationality and Society 12(2):227-253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/104346300012002004

Coleman, James S. (1990) The Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Campbell, Robert A. (2003) “Preparing the Next Generation of Scientists: The Social Process of Managing Students.” Social Studies of Science 33:897-927. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312703336004

Cook, Karen S., Roderick M. Kramer, David H. Thom, Irena Stephanikova, Stephanie Bailey Mollborn and Robin M. Cooper (2004) “Trust and distrust in patientphysician relationships: Perceived determinants of high- and low-trust relationships in managed-care settings.” Pp. 65-98 in Trust and Distrust in Organizations. Dilemmas and Approaches, edited by R. M. Kramer and K. S. Cook. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Dannefer, Dale W. (1977) “Driving and Symbolic Interaction.” Sociological Inquiry 47(1):33-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1977.tb00776.x

den Hartog, Deanne (2003) “Trusting others in organizations: Leaders, management and coworkers.” Pp. 125-146 in The Trust Process in Organizations. Empirical Studies of the Determinants and the Process of Trust Development, edited by B. Nooteboom and F. Six. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Dirks, Kurt (2000) “Trust in Leadership and Team Performance: Evidence from NCAA Basketball.” Journal of Applied Psychology 85(6):1004-1012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.6.1004

Dirks, Kurt T. and Daniel P. Skarlicki (2004) “Trust in leaders: Existing research and emerging issues.” Pp. 21-40 in Trust and Distrust in Organizations. Dilemmas and Approaches, edited by R. M. Kramer and K. S. Cook. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Elsbach, Kimberly (2004) “Managing images of trustworthiness in organizations.” Pp. 275-292 in Trust and Distrust in Organizations. Dilemmas and Approaches, edited by R. M. Kramer and K. S. Cook. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Fukuyama, Francis (1995) Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press.

Garfinkel, Harold (1963) “A Conception of, and Experiments with, ‘Trust as a Condition of Stable Concerted Actions’.” Pp. 187-265 in Motivation and Social Interaction, edited by O.J. Harvey. New York: Ronald Press.

Garfinkel, Harold (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Giddens, Anthony (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Goffman, Erving (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor.

Goffman, Erving (1961) Asylums. New York: Anchor Books.

Goffman, Erving (1963) Stigma. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Spectrum.

Goffman, Erving (1967) Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior. Chicago: Aldine.

Goffman, Erving (1971) Relations in Public. New York: Basic Books.

Goudge, Jane and Kucy Gilson (2005) “How can Trust be Investigated? Drawing Lessons from Past Experience.” Social Science and Medicine 61:1439-1451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.11.071

Hammersley, Martyn and Paul Atkinson (1995) Ethnography. Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.

Henslin, James M. (1968) “Trust and the Cab Driver.” Pp. 138-157 in Sociology and Everyday Life, edited by M. Truzzi. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Henslin, James M. (1976) “What Makes for Trust?” Pp. 45-57 in Down to Earth Sociology: Introductory Readings, 2nd Edition, edited James M. Henslin. New York: Free Press.

Hardin, Russell (2006) Trust. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Jacobs, Bruce A. (1992) “Undercover Drug-use Evasion Tactics: Excuses and Neutralization.” Symbolic Interaction 15(4):435-453. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/si.1992.15.4.435

Lane, Christel (1998) “Introduction: Theories and issues in the study of trust.” Pp. 1-30 in Trust Within and Between Organizations. Conceptual Issues and Empirical Applications, edited by C. Lane and R. Bachmann. New York: Oxford University Press.

Lewicki, Roy J. and Barbara B. Bunker (1996) “Developing and maintaining trust in work relationships.” Pp. 114-139 in Trust in Organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research, edited by R.M. Kramer and T.R. Tyler. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452243610.n7

Liebeskind, Julia P. and Amalya L. Oliver (1998) “From handshake to contract: Intellectual property, trust, and the social structure of academic research.” Pp. 118-145 in Trust Within and Between Organizations. Conceptual Issues and Empirical Applications, edited by C. Lane and R. Bachmann. New York: Oxford University Press.

Luhmann, Niklas (1979) Trust and Power. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Luhmann, Niklas (1988) “Familiarity, confidence, trust: Problems and alternatives.” Pp. 94-107 in Trust. Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations, edited by D. Gambetta. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

McAllister, Daniel J. (1995) “Affect- and Cognition-based Trust as Foundations for Interpersonal Cooperation in Organizations.” Academy of Management Journal 38(1):24-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/256727

Mechanic, David and Sharon Meyer (2000) “Concepts of Trust among Patients with Serious Illness.” Social Science and Medicine 51:657-668. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00014-9

Meehan, Albert (1992) “I Don’t Prevent Crime, I Prevent Calls: Policing as Negotiated Order.” Symbolic Interaction 15(4):455-480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/si.1992.15.4.455

Misztal, Barbara (1996) Trust in Modern Societies. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Misztal, Barbara (2001) “Normality and Trust in Goffman’s Theory of Interaction Order.” Sociological Theory 19(3):312-324. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0735-2751.00143

Nooteboom, Bart (2003) “The trust process.” Pp. 16-36 in The Trust Process in Organizations. Empirical Studies of the Determinants and the Process of Trust Development, edited by B. Nooteboom and F. Six. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781843767350

Parsons, Talcott (1971) The System of Modern Societies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Preda, Alex (2002) “Financial Knowledge, Documents, and the Structure of Financial Activities.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 31:207-239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241602031002004

Prus, Robert C. (1989) Making Sales. Newbury Park: Sage.

Prus, Robert C. (1996) Symbolic Interaction and Ethnographic Research. Albany, NY: SUNY.

Prus, Robert C. (1997) Subcultural Mosaics and Intersubjective Realities. An Ethnographic Agenda for Pragmatizing the Social Sciences. Albany, NY: SUNY.

Prus, Robert C. (1999) Beyond the Power Mystique. Power as Intersubjective Accomplishment. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Prus, Robert C. (2004) “Education in the Making: A Pragmatist Agenda for Studying Instructional Ventures.” A paper presented at the north central sociological association, April 1-4, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Prus, Robert C and C.R.D. Sharper (1991) Road Hustler. Hustlers, Magic and the Thief Subculture. New York: Kaufman and Greenberg.

Robinson, Robert V. and Elton F. Jackson (2001) “Is Trust in Others Declining in America? An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis.” Social Science Research 30:117-145. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/ssre.2000.0692

Schweingruber, David and Nancy Berns (2003) “Doing Money Work in a Door-to-Door Sales Organization.” Symbolic Interaction 26:447-471. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/si.2003.26.3.447

Semmes, Clovis E. (1991) “Developing Trust: Patient-Practitioner Encounters in Natural Health Care.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 19(4):450-470. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124191019004004

Shrum, Wesley, Ivan Chompalov and Joel Genuth (2001) “Trust, Conflict and Performance in Scientific Collaborations.” Social Studies of Science 31(5):681-730. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/030631201031005002

Simmel, Georg (1990) Philosophy of Money. 2nd Edition, edited by David Frisby. Translated by T. Bottomore and D. Frisby. London: Routledge.

Strauss, Anselm (1993) Continual Permutations of Action. New York: Aldine deGruyter.

Strauss, Anselm and Juliet Corbin (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Sztompka, Piotr (1999) Trust: A Sociological Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sztompka, Piotr (2005) “Comments on Paul Dumouchel.” European Journal of Sociology 46(3):432-436.

Van de Rit, Arnout and Vincent Buskens (2006) “Trust in Intimate Relationships. The Increased Importance of Embeddedness for Marriage in the United States.” Rationality and Society 18(2):123-156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463106063319

Weber, Linda R. and Allison Carter (1997) “On Reconstructing Trust: Time, Intention, and Forgiveness.” Clinical Sociology Review 15:24-39.

Weber, Linda R. and Allison Carter (1998) "On Constructing Trust: Temporality Self-Disclosure, and Perspectivetaking.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 18(1):7-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01443339810788290

Weber, Linda R. and Allison Carter (2003) The Social Construction of Trust. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Williamson, Oliver E. (1975) Markets and Hierarchies. New York: Free Press.

Williamson, Oliver E. (1993) “Calculativeness, Trust and Economic Organization.” Journal of Law and Economics 36 (April):453-486. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/467284

Zucker, Lynne G. (1986) “Production of Trust: Institutional Sources of Economic Structure, 1840-1920.” Research in Organizational Behavior 8:53-111.