Towards a more humanistic understanding of organizational trust

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to propose a wider and more humanistic understanding of the phenomenon of trust and “trust building” through a dialogue between ethics and social sciences.Design/methodology/approachThis paper offers a constructive critical review of the explanation of trust proposed by Mayer et al. in their 1995 seminal article, and expands this by considering the ethical dimension and the role of virtues.FindingsThe integrative model of organizational trust by Mayer et al. lacks a specific reference to the role played by human will and the ability to make free choices. When assessing the trust built in a relationship, an explicit consideration of human will should be includ…