Trust Breach Dynamics: Exploring the Cognitive Affective Processing System in Active and Passive Responses to Breach
Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Leadership trust breaches have attracted considerable attention in recent decades; however, the literature remains fragmented regarding the classification of trust breach events and their perceived severity from the follower’s perspective. While Social Exchange Theory, the dominant framework in trust research, explains post-breach behaviours such as reciprocity, it does not fully account for the nuanced dynamics underlying divergent responses, such as why some followers pursue reconciliation while others engage in avoidance or revenge. To address these gaps, this research program applies the Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS) framework (Mischel & Shoda, 1995) as a meta-theoretical lens to investigate trust breaches and post-breach behaviours. CAPS integrates traits, motivations, contexts, and self-regulatory processes, offering a comprehensive lens to understand how these factors shape responses such as reconciliation, avoidance, and revenge. The program comprises three interrelated studies. Study 1 explores alignment of trust breach events, and types with the trustworthiness dimensions of Ability, Benevolence, and Integrity (ABI). Study 2 investigates the perceived severity of trust breaches and the influence of ABI dimensionality, finding that Integrity and ABI-combined breaches are perceived as more severe than those associated with Benevolence or Ability. Together, Studies 1 and 2 highlight the subjectivity of breach evaluations with findings regarding perceived severity broadly aligning with previous research. Study 3 examines how propensity to trust, perceived severity, and relational motivation, influence post-breach responses, through the examination of a moderated mediation model, highlighting the central role of self-regulatory processes in shaping reconciliation, avoidance, and revenge. This research employs subject matter expertise and cross-sectional survey design to test hypotheses, including a moderated mediation model. It advances understanding of trust breach dynamics by revealing the interplay of motivations, cognitions, and affect in follower experiences of breaches.
Author: Driscoll, Cara
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7112888144