Assessing the relationship between leadership trust and work engagement at a university

Abstract

This study assessed the relationship between leadership trust and work engagement with the ultimate goal of developing a model that would specify which dimension of leadership trust would best predict work engagement. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a convenience sample (N = 244) representing a response rate of 48.8% from a sample of 500 university employees. The results indicated only reliance-based trust to be a significant predictor of work engagement, but it was not possible to suggest a model for prediction of work engagement from leadership trust. Study limitations were, however, identified and recommendations for institution-specific and future research were made regarding these constructs.