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A Mediated Model Of Trust And Its Antecedents In The Client-Consultant Relationship, William L. Solomonson

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study seeks to improve the contributions of performance consultants, instructional design consultants, and training consultants by explaining the effect that several variables have on trust as a mediator to relationship commitment within the context of the client-consultant relationship. The participants were 521 college students from two 4-year universities. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight scenario-based questionnaires which measured the effect of three manipulated variables - perceived level of expertise, shared values, and sharing of meaningful information - on trust as a mediator to relationship commitment. The ability to trust, the comparison level of the alternative, and dependence …