Exploring Employment Experiences and Perceived Trust: Attitudes Toward Short-Term Workers
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Hansol Rheem
Department
RCHSS – Psychological Science
Abstract
This research focused on the relationship between employment experiences and the extent to which these individuals trust others to perform a job well. Our goal is to research how different employment experiences shape how we view employment, and the perceived trust towards short-term workers, or “gig workers”, who have become increasingly tied to our everyday lives (Heing, 2021). A sample of 292 undergraduate psychology students were recruited for the study. Participants rated profiles of hypothetical gig workers presented in Qualtrics as if they were on platforms like TaskRabbit. The independent variable in this study is the participants’ work experience which is split into two groups: Individuals who are likely to do gig jobs on a regular basis and those not likely to do so. The first group would consist of individuals employed full-time, in internships, or apprenticeships. The second group consists of individuals who are employed part-time, temporary/contract employees, and unemployed individuals. The dependent variable of this study is each participant’s mean score on the Perceived Trustworthiness scale (Ma et al., 2017). An ANOVA was conducted to determine if there is a significant difference in the mean scores on the Perceived Trustworthiness scale among the two participant groups. Through this research, we aim to identify whether there is a significant relationship between employment experiences of the participants and their perceived trust of others. These findings can ultimately be applied to real-world situations and inform us on how the growth of a “gig economy” may influence implicit attitudes towards others based on employment experiences. The research also provides evidence on how our personal experiences may shape our perceptions and attitudes of the social and professional world around us.
Disciplines
Psychology
Exploring Employment Experiences and Perceived Trust: Attitudes Toward Short-Term Workers
This research focused on the relationship between employment experiences and the extent to which these individuals trust others to perform a job well. Our goal is to research how different employment experiences shape how we view employment, and the perceived trust towards short-term workers, or “gig workers”, who have become increasingly tied to our everyday lives (Heing, 2021). A sample of 292 undergraduate psychology students were recruited for the study. Participants rated profiles of hypothetical gig workers presented in Qualtrics as if they were on platforms like TaskRabbit. The independent variable in this study is the participants’ work experience which is split into two groups: Individuals who are likely to do gig jobs on a regular basis and those not likely to do so. The first group would consist of individuals employed full-time, in internships, or apprenticeships. The second group consists of individuals who are employed part-time, temporary/contract employees, and unemployed individuals. The dependent variable of this study is each participant’s mean score on the Perceived Trustworthiness scale (Ma et al., 2017). An ANOVA was conducted to determine if there is a significant difference in the mean scores on the Perceived Trustworthiness scale among the two participant groups. Through this research, we aim to identify whether there is a significant relationship between employment experiences of the participants and their perceived trust of others. These findings can ultimately be applied to real-world situations and inform us on how the growth of a “gig economy” may influence implicit attitudes towards others based on employment experiences. The research also provides evidence on how our personal experiences may shape our perceptions and attitudes of the social and professional world around us.