The Development and Consequences of Trust in Student Project Groups

Abstract

Student project groups are a popular teaching tool used by marketing and business instructors. Despite the merits of group projects, trust often breaks down, and a valuable opportunity for learning may deteriorate into disharmony and personal frustration. Using literature on teamwork, student project groups, and trust, as well as qualitative data gathered from 135 undergraduate business school students, the authors develop a model of the determinants and consequences of a climate of trust within student project groups. In particular, they consider the attributes and behaviors students consider when judging the trustworthiness of fellow group members, the perceived consequences of distrust within groups, and facilitating tools or activities that help foser group trust. Findings provide a number of interesting insights for instructors.