Workers in modern teams that perform tasks over computer-mediated communication channels encounter challenges in building trust and performing effectively. Finding interventions to mitigate such losses could improve team performance. Collaborative critical thinking (CCT) training has the potential to improve trust, monitoring, and effectiveness in virtual teams. Using a simulated search-and-rescue task, the effects of CCT training, as compared with a control training, were evaluated in 105 three-member teams. No effects of CCT training were found on team positive or negative monitoring, team cognitive or affective trust, team efficacy, or team viability. However, teams trained in CCT reported consistently higher levels of team cooperation. Directions for future research are discussed so as to maximize the possibility that CCT might yet be an effective intervention.

The purpose of this thesis is to gain an understanding of how public agencies can increase theirbrand trust by adapting technologies and digital strategies which target inclusiveness forsocially vulnerable groups. To obtain the research purpose, the study explores how the SwedishTax Agency work to adapt its digital tools and the ways in which these digital tools contributeto gaining brand trust. The study was conducted as a qualitative single case study where datawas mainly collected using secondary data of official data published by the Swedish TaxAgency. In addition, employees at Swedish Tax Agency were interviewed, using a semistructured interview as the primary data collection method. The study concludes that there is aneed of both cognitive and affective trust in understanding how agencies can gain brand trustin e-government. They can also be corroborated with both traditional marketing literature andwith more recent literature in e-government.

This study explores US foreign policy toward national movements (NMs), focusing on Kurdish groups across all parts of Kurdistan: Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. It investigates the central question of why the US views certain Kurdish NMs as strategic allies while labeling others as terrorists. The PKK and PYD—sister organizations sharing the same ideology and leader—serve as a prime example of this inconsistency: the PKK is designated a terrorist organization, while the PYD has emerged as a key US partner. Similarly, Iraq's Kurdish ruling parties were initially placed on the third-tier terrorist list, only to later become Washington's most reliable allies in Iraq. The study reveals that this discrepancy is mainly due to the impact of joint combat operations. Driven by US strategic interests, these operations strengthen ties with NMs partners. Positive joint operations, free of insider attacks, are instrumental in building rational trust that evolves into affective trust over time. This trust elevates them to in-group status, fostering a shared identity. The affective bonds forged during these combat experiences shape policy makers' perceptions, further reinforcing these relationships. Furthermore, diplomatic engagements in the post-combat phase complement this process, deepening trust and enabling the US and NMs to address challenges collaboratively while advancing broader strategic objectives. / Doctor of Philosophy / This study examines US foreign policy towards national movements (NMs), focusing on Kurdish groups in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. It investigates why the US sees some Kurdish groups as strategic allies while labeling others as terrorists. A key example is the PKK and PYD—two related organizations with the same ideology, symbols and ideological leader. The PKK is considered a terrorist group, while the PYD has become an important US partner. Similarly, Iraq's Kurdish ruling parties were once on a third-tier terrorist list but later became the United States' most reliable allies in Iraq. The study finds that this inconsistency is largely due to the impact of joint combat operations. These operations, driven by US strategic interests, help strengthen ties with NM partners. Positive joint operations, where there are no insider attacks, build trust. Over time, this trust evolves into stronger, emotional bonds, turning these groups into in-group partners with a shared identity. These bonds influence policymakers' views and deepen the relationship. Additionally, diplomatic engagement after these combat operations further strengthens trust, allowing the US and NMs to work together on challenges while advancing broader strategic goals.

This study endeavoured to uncover the trust experiences of individuals involved in business alliances between traditional companies (TCs) and historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) with a view to constructing a model that would facilitate a better understanding of organisational trust within these institutions. The theoretical study proposed a theoretical model of trust in the alliances between TCs and HDIs within an economic empowerment domain. The empirical study employed Q methodology to investigate the trust experiences of the participants. The 25 individuals who participated in the study were selected by means of both non-probability purposive and snowball sampling The participants were presented with the Q sample containing 50 items which they had to sort in accordance with the instruction given. The post-Q sorting interview was conducted to give the participants a chance to expound on their reasoning for the sorting of the Q sample. Data were analysed using Pearson product-moment correlation and factor analysis. Six factors revealed participants’ experiences of trust in the alliances: Factor A (Sincerity trust alliances), Factor B (Values trust alliances), Factor C (Duped trust alliances), Factor D (Vigilant trust alliances), Factor E (Deceitful trust alliances) and Factor F (Inclination to trust alliances). The trust experiences of the six groups were used to theorise about the association between the participants’ trust experiences and their performance on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). In the main, the study found that groups that had pleasant trust experiences with their partner organisations exhibited have high positive affect (PA) and low negative affect (NA). Although exploratory in nature, the study contributed an empirically derived theoretical framework of cognitive and affective trust within business alliances that may be further investigated in future research endeavours. In this was it identified and proposed a modus operandi for closing the trust gap. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)