to the negative effect of control on trust (Creed & Miles, 1996). In addition,
formalization and centralization could be perceived by employees as a symbol of low
trust in the employees by their organizations, thus resulting in reciprocal low trust in
the organization by employees (Moorman et al., 1993; Whitener et al., 1998). In
sum, the lack of identification and reciprocity in social exchange between an
organization and its employees in terms of structural constraint is expected to hurt
the perceived trustworthiness of organizations by the employees.
Hypothesis 2a. Formalization in an organization will relate negatively to employees’ collective
perception of organizational trust.
Hypothesis 2b. Centralization in an organization will relate negatively to employees’ collective
perception of organizational trust.