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Particularistic Trust and General Trust: A Network Analysis inChinese Organizations[1]

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Jar-Der Luo
Jar-Der Luo*
Affiliation:
Tsinghua University, Beijing, Peoples' Republic of , China
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Abstract

In this paper, I examine the structural positions in two different types ofnetworks and their relationship to trust. I propose two types of trust:particularistic which is trust in specific other individuals and generaltrust in colleagues and the organization as a whole. The findings suggestthat both centrality in the friendship network and the go-between positionin advice networks are related to particularistic trust towards the otherindividuals in the networks. Particularistic trust, in turn, is associatedwith the two kinds of general trust. I introduce the Chinese concept of pao to explain the Chinese dynamic of trust formation ininterpersonal networks.

Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , November 2005 , pp. 437 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2005

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Footnotes

[1]

I thank the financial support of Academia Sinica for my 'InformationTechnology and Social Transformation' project, and the NationalScience Foundation of Taiwan for my research project NSC89-2416-H-155-041. Previous versions of this paper have been presentedat the 2003 International Association for Chinese Management ResearchInauguration Convention and the 2002 Convention of the Hong KongSociological Association. I am grateful for the valuable comments fromvarious reviewers and in particular senior editors Yanjie Bian, AnneTusi, and Joseph Galaskiewicz, who patiently guided me through thedevelopment of this paper. The help of Herm Smith in improving theEnglish writing of the paper and providing the concept of assurance isalso appreciated.

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