Subordinate Felt Trust and Task Performance: A Two-Study Test of the Self-Determination Enhancement Pathway

Research suggests employees are more productive when they feel their supervisor trusts them. However, the underlying processes that explain this relation are not well understood. We investigated whether self-determination (a motivational construct) mediates the relation between felt trust and task performance. We tested our hypotheses across two studies, which employed work simulation tasks. We found that our felt trust manipulation had a direct positive effect on task performance (Study 1), as well as an indirect positive effect on task performance via the competence satisfaction facet of self-determination (Study 2). These results support the causal effect of felt trust on self-determination, as well as the viability of a self-determination pathway that accounts for the relationship between felt trust and task performance.