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When affective commitment leads to viability: The role of trust as a mediator and virtuality as a moderator

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between affective commitment and team viability, considering team cognitive and affective trust as mediators and the team's level of virtuality as a moderator. A survey-based study was conducted with 177 Portuguese work teams from several companies, and hypotheses were tested through partial least structure equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Our results reveal no statistical evidence of a direct positive association between affective commitment and viability but a significant indirect relationship through cognitive trust. This result highlights the critical role of cognitive trust in promoting viability. Moreover, our findings reveal that virtuality negatively moderates the relationship between affective trust and viability. Although affective trust is positive for viability when virtuality is low, it becomes detrimental when teams present high levels of virtuality. For practice, our results suggest the importance of promoting cognitive trust among teams and the need to be mindful regarding the level of virtuality because it may impact how trust influences team outcomes.

Source: European Management Journal

DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2024.10.005

Authors: Karma Lhaden, Isabel D. Dimas, Teresa Rebelo, Paulo R. Lourenço, Marta P. Alves

Institutions: University of Coimbra, University of Beira Interior

Language: English

Topic: Team Dynamics and Performance

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,160

Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia