Exploring the Role of Trust, Competence, and Likability in Fostering Workplace Relations

Undergraduate participants (N = 240) learned about the competence (low vs. high) and likability (low vs. high) of a possible working partner and indicated their trust and attraction toward the partner. Results showed that work attraction was higher towards a likable work partner than a competent one, indicating that the effect of likability was superior to that of competence. Furthermore, trust completely mediated the likability-work attraction link but not the competence-work attraction link, indicating that work attraction was due to the partner’s likability via trust activation. Finally, the theoretical implications of mediators for likability and competence are discussed in the present study