The Role of Trust in Learning

In my previous article, I was talking about psychological safety in learning from the perspective of a trainer. Today I would like to focus on the topic of trust and how trust, and its components, affect the learning process.

1.?????? Trust and psychological safety are not the same

Both trust and psychological safety are seen as the key factors of team’s success: how well do the team members work together, are they able to effectively communicate with each other without “sugarcoating” reality, & are they empowered to speak-up and share their honest feedback. Trust and psychological safety are related – e.g. when building psych safety in a group context, fostering and maintaining trust is necessary – but they are not exactly same. Psych safety is an intra-group phenomenon and can be seen in the context of the internal group dynamic whereas trust is inter-group one and focuses on interactions between individuals.

As an example, Albert works in the team of five. He feels confident speaking up about ongoing issues to his team members because he is confident the other four team members won’t judge him. The focus is on Albert’s own action here – speaking up when an issue happens – and his perception of other team members actions (they won’t judge him; they will accept his feedback). Here we are talking about Albert’s psychological safety.

The other side of the coin is this: there is one member in this team, Gareth, and Albert does not trust him as much because they had an unpleasant interaction in the past. Albert likes Gareth as a person but his confidence in giving him feedback is lower. Whereas Albert perceives that he can open up to others in the team (high psychological safety Albert feels as a team member), he doesn’t particularly feel confident around Gareth (lower trust level towards a particular team member).

This example shows that trust and psychological safety are intertwined but can differ depending on the context. An emphasis on trust being my belief in someone (how do I see others?) versus psychological safety being my belief others won’t judge me (how do others see my actions?).

2.?????? Trust propensity & trustworthiness

There are two aspects of trust that fit into the category of personal characteristics: trustworthiness and trust propensity. Trustworthiness is a perceived ability (benevolence and integrity of a trustee) whereas trust propensity is a more stable (trait-like characteristic of a trustor that describes a person’s willingness to rely on others).

Getting back to Albert’s example, his distrust towards Gareth can be seen from two perspectives: how trustworthy is Gareth in Albert’s eyes (trustworthiness)? And how likely is Albert to give others the benefits of doubt (trust propensity)? Whereas the aspect of trust propensity is a relatively stable, lower-level trait related to the broader domain of agreeableness, trustworthiness can be influenced by different factors. Albert used to trust Gareth and he saw him as competent and consistent in his behaviors until the unpleasant incident happened that changed his perspective.

In other words, trustworthiness depends on the personal view of a trustor determined by behaviors of a trustee that can either confirm the hypothesis formed at the beginning of the relationship or question them. Consistency of these behaviors also plays a role in trustworthiness, e.g. to which degree is a certain behavior is expected from a trustee and how coherent is it with their past behaviors.

3.?????? Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity in learning process

So now imagine that Albert and his team of five attend a whole-day training session on agility. They all come with their own experiences of working together, their perceptions of each other, past team meetings and personal traits that will affect the learning process. There are different types of trust we can consider in the context of learning:

• Trust in the instructor: How much does the learner trust in instructor’s knowledge and ability to teach them? What can influence this perception is experience with the instructor (Do the learners know them? What do they know about them?) and other factors such as the way they look, their tone of voice, pace of talking or “first impression”, to name a few.
• Trust in the learning environment: Does the learning environment encourage open communication and collaboration? What can also play a role in this context is a literal environment: whether the learning process is happening remotely or in person.
• Trust in the learning process: Does the learner believe they will obtain new, useful knowledge? This aspect may affect the student’s motivation to listen and learn, and, of course, it will contribute to the general outcome of the training.
• Trust in peers: Does the learner have trust in other learners attending the training? A High level of trust in peers promotes effective communication between them, cooperation, and knowledge sharing that deepens the learning experience. It can also contribute to having an open discussion, allowing space to share personal experiences and boosting creativity within the team. That, in fact, can make the training outcomes broader and enhance the learner's ability to use obtained knowledge in real life.
• Trust in self:? What is the perception of one's own self-confidence and self-efficacy? Higher trust in yourself contributes to the capacity to learn; it also facilitates setting ambitious goals, dealing with challenges, and taking ownership for one’s growth.

To sum up, all of the different aspects of trust may influence Albert’s training experience: his trust in the instructor, his perception of learning environment, his trust in the learning process, in his peers who are also present on the training session and his trust in self. All these underpinned by his own trust propensity and the way he sees others’ trustworthiness.

Summary:

Trust is a crucial component of effective learning. This article discusses the concept of trust and psychological safety as being seen as two sides of the same coin. It also distinguishes trust propensity and trustworthiness as two, personal component of trust. One, trust propensity, is a less-controllable, trait-like factor, and the other, trustworthiness, is highly related to the behavior of a trustee and can fluctuate. Finally, the article points out five different types of trust that contribute to an overall learning experience.