Uncertainty-media fit and Psychological Capital for Trust Building in Virtual Leader-Follower Interactions

A very important challenge facing leaders and followers alike is how to navigate the virtual workplace where much of our communication and interactions occur through the use of technology. This field experiment examined whether a leader's choice of communication media given the situational uncertainty (termed uncertainty-media fit here to parallel related research) impacted the amount and type of trust (cognitive versus affective) that developed between leaders and followers. Further, we tested whether the leader's perceived level of psychological capital (PsyCap) impacted the results obtained. To test our hypotheses, 326 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions of high (low) media richness×high (low) situational uncertainty. Results of our study indicated that communication media choice, in and of itself, did not seem to impact results. However, the situational uncertainty present in our scenarios impacted subjects’ amount and type of trust in the leaders, lending credence to the argument that perhaps technology is, in fact, more based on how it is interpreted, rather than whether the leader uses media higher in richness to communicate more complex information. Further, subjects’ perception of the leader's psychological capital (PsyCap) moderated results obtained. In addition to limitations and suggestions for future research, we conclude with practical implications for leaders that may have an impact on the amount and type of trust that develops between leaders and followers in a virtual work environment.