20781: Re-Examining the Ability, Benevolence, and Integrity (ABI) Model of Trust (WITHDRAWN) (session 26455)

Student trust in their professors embodies a critical success factor for not only student satisfaction and retention but also professor performance. The seminal model of trust maintains that all three facets of ability (A), benevolence (B), and integrity (I) are necessary to establish trust. In contrast to this one-size-fits-all perspective, our qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) on undergraduate and graduate business student survey data finds that professors generally do not always need all three ABI components. For instance, just benevolence or a combination of ability and integrity can suffice for most students. Moreover, these configurations for higher trust differ from those leading to lower levels of trust. Complementing these results, an ensuing qualitative study reveals that the specific dimensions of ABI that students perceive as important for building trust differ from extant professor perceptions. In particular, students prioritize relational indicators as opposed to task-based ones favored by professors. Additionally, personal attributes emerged as a fourth dimension, suggesting the ABI model of trust may be incomplete for trust in professors. In combination, these results not only challenge the key underlying assumption of the ABI model but also provide novel and practical insight into how to both train new professors and re-train established professors to better build trust with students.

view paper (if available)