Social Exchange Theory

This chapter highlights the role of trust in social exchange relationships as it applies to the employee-organization relationship (EOR). Social exchange theory is one of the most influential conceptual frameworks for understanding behaviour in organizations and a dominant theoretical framework to understanding the employee-organization relationship. A common although not exclusive focus of social exchange theory is to understand relationships, underpinning mechanisms and associated outcomes. From a social exchange lens, trust is conceptualized as an expectation that an exchange partner will behave benignly and not exploitatively based on inferences about the partner's traits and intentions. In tracing the development of social exchange theory up to this point, two observations can be made in terms of trust. Having cursorily traced the historical development of social exchange theory and the role of trust in social exchange theory, authors now turn to examining EOR frameworks that draw upon social exchange theory.