Trust, trait theory, and collaboration in telemedicine: an empirical test

This study investigates the effect of individual personality traits on trust in virtual collaboration in telemedicine. In most research there has been an emphasis on the immediate precursors of trust, such as institutional factors (e.g., norms), prior reputation of the parties, and interactions among parties. This has extended to conceptions of individual characteristics or predispositions to trust, which have generally been defined in terms very similar to the construct they are intended to explain; so, for example, predisposition to trust is defined as tendency to be trusting in the situation. The result is an explanation of trust that is quite similar to the construct itself. In this study we advance a basic theory of personality, circumplex theory, as an explanation for trust in anticipated virtual collaborations among medical care professionals. Circumplex theory fits well with existing models of trust because it predicts interpersonal interaction styles, but it offers an explanation grounded in a broad theory of personality that promises to offer more insight than do existing trait explanations of trust. We develop a model based on circumplex theory to predict trust and willingness to participate in anticipated virtual collaborations in telemedicine. The model is tested with a survey administered to physical rehabilitation professionals in a large telemedicine network. Implications for telemedicine and for research on virtual trust are discussed.