Distrust: Forgotten, yet Promising

Abstract

In this paper, I am discussing the concepts of trust and distrust and their role in collaborative endeavors, in the light of the debate on trust that has been going on in the management and organization theory literature for the last two decades. I am arguing that while the concept of trust has been thoroughly studied, it is its complement - distrust – that constitutes a forgotten, yet very promising territory to explore in the organization studies field. Moreover, the review of existing studies shows that the role of trust might have been overestimated while in fact the balance between trust and distrust in collaborative relations may be beneficial to the parties involved.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.85.3.8411