On power and metaperceptions of trust: When and why leaders are perceived as unwilling to trust

What undermines people’s perception that a leader trusts them? We develop a theoretical model that specifies when and why metaperceptions of trust of leaders are undermined. Consistent with our model, we demonstrate across a field study and four experiments that the power of a leader is negatively related to people’s perception that this leader trusts them. This negative relationship was independent of people’s trust in a leader, was mediated by the perception that a leader views others as having selfish motives, and was found across a variety of samples, measurements, and manipulations of power and trust. We discuss the theoretical implications for the literature on power and trust and we discuss the practical implications for organizations.