Have you ever thought about what trust in negotiation really means? It turns out there are many different definitions and facets to trust, and a lot more we don’t yet know—but we’re trying to find out—about trust in negotiation. In this episode, Dr. Dejun (Tony) Kong from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business shared with us insights about the meaning and importance of trust in negotiation. Trust is a dynamic, interactive process that is rich in nuance and complex in practice. Dr. Kong’s research has found some surprising findings on the benefits, and possible downfalls, of both trust and how we currently study it. Dr. Kong provides research-based insights based on his empirical research and meta-analyses of the growing body of trust research in negotiation settings, and some practical tips for how we can understand and leverage trust better in negotiations, both as trustor and as trustee. 

Dr. Dejun (Tony) Kong bio:

Dejun “Tony” Kong (Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis) is an Associate Professor in Management and the Faculty Director of the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business. His research interests include trust, negotiation, leadership, ethics, positive psychology (e.g., humor, gratitude), culture, and diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI). His research (over 50 published articles) has appeared in numerous top journals in Management and Psychology. In 2016, he published his co-edited book “Leading through Conflict: Into the Fray.” He has received numerous research, teaching, and service awards. For example, in 2021, he received the Most Influential Article (runner-up) Award (for publications in 2013-2016) from the Academy of Management’s Conflict Management Division. In 2020, he received the University of South Florida’s Women and Leadership Initiative research award. In 2019, he was selected by Poets&Quants as a 40-under-40 best business professor in the world. He was also named an Ascendant Scholar by the Western Academy of Management, a Rutgers Research Fellow, and a University of Louisville’s Rechter Fellow. He was a Representative-at-Large of the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM). In 2021, he organized an Academy of Management workshop on Inclusive Collaborations and Classrooms, facilitating conversations on DEI. 
 

Articles referenced in the episode:

• Campagna, R. L., Mislin, A. A., Kong, D. T., & Bottom, W. P. (2016). Strategic consequences of emotional misrepresentation in negotiation: The blowback effect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), 605. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000072 
• Kong, D. T. (2018). Trust toward a group of strangers as a function of stereotype-based social identification. Personality and Individual Differences, 120, 265-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.03.031 
• Kong, D. T. (2015). Narcissists’ negative perception of their counterpart’s competence and benevolence and their own reduced trust in a negotiation context. Personality and Individual Differences, 74, 196-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.015  
• Kong, D. T., Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2014). Interpersonal trust within negotiations: Meta-analytic evidence, critical contingencies, and directions for future research. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1235-1255. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0461 
• Kong, D. T., Lount, R. B., Jr., Olekalns, M., & Ferrin, D. L. (2017). Advancing the scientific understanding of trust in the contexts of negotiations and repeated bargaining: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Trust Research, 7, 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/21515581.2017.1289100 
• Kong, D. T., & Yao, J. (2019). Advancing the scientific understanding of trust and culture in negotiations. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 12, 117-130. https://doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12147 
• Kong, D. T., & Yao, J. (2021). Words beyond the Partial Deed: Prosocial Framing of a Partial-Trust Act Promotes Reciprocation between Strangers. Social Psychology Quarterly, 84(3), 267-280. https://doi.org/10.1177/01902725211027190 
• Lu, S. C., Kong, D. T., Ferrin, D. L., & Dirks, K. T. (2017). What are the determinants of interpersonal trust in dyadic negotiations? Meta-analytic evidence and implications for future research. Journal of Trust Research, 7, 22-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/21515581.2017.1285241