The inter-relationship of trust, anger and aggression: A two-level perspective

The relationship between trust, anger and aggression in an Employment Social Environment (ESE) (Tzafrir, Gur & Blumen, 2015) is the topic of this chapter. We will explore these three constructs on the interplay between individual and team levels within the Emotional Social ENvironment (ESEN). ESEN is a microfoundation (Barney & Felin, 2013; Devinney, 2013) representing a team’s emotional characteristics, various forms of social interactions, and the process dynamics involved. This environment is a systematic and iterative process between individuals, which creates a team-level modus operandi that consequently affects the individuals and vice versa. In this context, trust serves as a cognitive-emotional mechanism that infuses certainty into uncertain situations (Colquitt, et al., 2012; see Chapter 1 by van Knippenberg, this volume and Chapter 9 by Baer and Colquitt, this volume). Also, the interactive and iterative process of trust dynamics at the team level can be asymmetric and may differ between team members (De Jong & Dirks, 2012; Korsgaard, Brower & Lester, 2015; see Chapter 2 by Korsgaard, this volume). Under standing how the iterative process is influenced at the higher-order level and at the individual level can help predict employee behaviour, such as aggressive behaviour.