Listen to this article:
Abstract: This article examines the neurological bases of trust and how an awareness of unconscious trust processes can help leaders foster trusting relationships and high-performing teams. On a basic level, the brain's socioemotional circuitry generates rapid, automatic trust judgments when assessing new people or situations. Regions like the amygdala, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex evaluate factors like similarity, attractiveness, emotional expressions, body language, and facial features to determine trustworthiness outside of conscious control. While these reflexive processes conferred an evolutionary advantage, they can misfire or introduce biases in modern contexts if not guided by higher-level reasoning. The article discusses how implicit biases around these factors can impact trust dynamics. It also outlines techniques leaders can use to strategically manage first impressions and behaviors over time - through consistency, competency, care, and relationship building - to establish trust at both implicit and explicit levels. Understanding the interplay between conscious and unconscious trust judgments allows for optimizing organizational culture.
Trust underpins all successful organizations and is essential for strong leadership. However, trust is complex and nuanced, influenced not only by conscious thought but also by unconscious biological factors within our brains. For leaders to foster a culture of trust, they must first understand how trust operates on both conscious and subconscious levels. This paper aims to provide organizational leaders with an evidence-based perspective on how our brains decide when to trust so that they can utilize this knowledge to cultivate trusting relationships and high-performing teams.
Today we will explore the neurological bases of trust and how our brains automatically make rapid trust judgments outside of conscious awareness.
The Neurological Bases of Trust
On a basic neurological level, trust decisions involve activation of the brain’s socioemotional circuitry, including regions like the amygdala, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex (Dimaggio and Lysaker, 2010; Krueger et al., 2007; Riedl and Javor, 2012). When we encounter someone new, these areas automatically generate quick intuitive judgments about whether that person seems trustworthy or not. These initial judgments occur outside of conscious awareness and control (Hurley and Chater, 2005).
Our brains make fast, reflexive trust assessments in this way for an evolutionary advantage—it helped our ancestors survive by rapidly detecting threats (Dimaggio and Lysaker, 2010; Krueger et al., 2007). However, leaders need to recognize that while valuable for survival, these reflexive processes can misfire in modern contexts if not guided by higher-level reasoning. Awareness of this dynamic is key, as initial unconscious impressions strongly shape how relationships develop going forward (Hurley and Chater, 2005).
Factors that Shape Unconscious Trust Decisions
Similarity. Our brains are wired to favor those similar to us, likely an evolutionary mechanism to build trust among ingroup members for cooperative survival (Dimaggio and Lysaker, 2010). However, favoring similarity can breed biases if left unchecked. Leaders should foster understanding between diverse teammates.
Attractiveness. Physical attractiveness unconsciously signals health, genetics, and social skills, activating positive appraisals through "what is beautiful is good" stereotyping (Senior et al., 2011; van't Wout and Sanfey, 2008). While uncontrollable, biases can form—a diversity of appearances should be valued.
Emotional expressions. Smiles and eye contact signal warmth, increasing trust perceptions, while frowns signal coldness (van 't Wout and Sanfey, 2008). However, guarded or nervous behaviors in new contexts should not necessarily breed distrust. Cultural display rules may differ and bias should be avoided.
Body language. Congruent posture and open, expansive gestures signal trust and confidence to our mirror neuron systems, activating positive appraisals unconsciously (Hurley and Chater, 2005; Krumhuber et al., 2007). However, cultural norms and introversion should not be mistaken for distrustfulness.
Facial features. Babies prefer faces with babyish features like large eyes and rounded foreheads, activating caregiving motivations that shape trust perceptions (Senior et al., 2011). However, maturity and competency should not be undervalued due to less youthful appearances.
Building Initial Trust through First Impressions
Given the powerful role of fast, automatic processes in shaping trust, leaders must focus on strategic impression management to build initial credibility positively. Some effective techniques include:
Smiling warmly and making eye contact builds likeability and instills comfort automatically through emotional contagion (van 't Wout and Sanfey, 2008).
Using an enthusiastic, confident tone and posture projects trust through congruent body language activations in others' mirror neurons (Hurley and Chater, 2005; Krumhuber et al., 2007).
Personably introducing oneself and remembering names makes personal connections that increase similarity perceptions boosting trust implicitly (Dimaggio and Lysaker, 2010).
Sincerely complimenting others where possible builds positive regard and activates reward pathways in the brain associating good feelings with the interaction (Senior et al., 2011).
Asking open-ended questions and actively listening demonstrates care, consideration, and puts others at ease subconsciously (Riedl and Javor, 2012).
For software startup Anthropic, the CEO Dario Amodei follows these principles in all first meetings by maintaining warm eye contact, giving a firm handshake with smile, remembering names, asking about the person’s work/interests, and making them feel heard through reflective listening. He cites it as laying the groundwork for strong long-term relationships built on mutual understanding and care.
Maintaining Trust through Consistency, Competency and Care
While initial encounters shape first impressions powerfully, continued interactions over time determine whether trust will endure. Neurologically, trust solidifies as past interactions generate predictive expectations for the future that condition positive or negative affective appraisals (Damasio, 2012). Leaders must demonstrate the following attributes consistently to cement trusting relationships:
Consistency. Predictability in words and actions allow expectations to form that signal reliability and dependability (Hurley and Chater, 2005; Dimaggio and Lysaker, 2010). Inconsistent, erratic, or double-standard behaviors undermine trust neurologically by violating conditioned expectations.
At Toyota, manager training emphasizes honoring commitments, meeting deadlines, and treating all employees with an even hand to foster an atmosphere of stability and fairness that maintains workers’ trust over decades.
Competency. Demonstrating skill and knowledge in one’s domain through above-average performance earns confidence from others by satisfying their social learning systems (Krueger et al., 2007; Hurley and Chater, 2005). Incompetence signals inability to perform as expected, threatening interests and welfare triggering distrust biologically.
The president of Anthropic ensures scientist competency remains top priority by enforcing strict performance reviews, continuous evaluation of algorithms and results, and team-wide code reviews to assure workers the organization deserves their faith through excellent work.
Care. Showing consideration for others’ well-being, needs and interests activates caregiving neuro circuitry that forms trusting bonds (Dimaggio and Lysaker, 2010; Zak, 2017). Leaders who are self-absorbed, indifferent or prioritize their interests alone undermine the relationships keeping their teams cooperating loyally.
At the clothing retailer Lululemon, store managers are trained to genuinely connect with employees and learn about their lives outside work to validate each person's humanity. This fosters mutual care and respect maintaining trust even during challenging periods.
Conclusion
By understanding the neurological underpinnings of how our brains decide to trust—both consciously and unconsciously—leaders can strategically use this knowledge to build and maintain trusting relationships essential to creating high-functioning, collaborative teams. While instinctive trust processes provide survival advantages, they can also bias perceptions if uncontrolled. Leaders who recognize the power of first impressions to shape longer-term dynamics, and follow principles like consistent predictability, competence and care over time, can foster a psychologically safe culture based on mutual understanding where people feel secure to contribute fully without fear. When trust is established, organizations can leverage this cooperative goodwill to achieve unprecedented results
References
Damasio, A. R. (2012). Evolutionary considerations on the human brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 520(16), 3492–3494. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.23118
Dimaggio, G., & Lysaker, P. H. (2010). Metacognition and severe mental illness: From basic research to treatment. Routledge.
Hurley, S., & Chater, N. (Eds.). (2005). Perspectives on imitation: From neuroscience to social science (Vol. 2). MIT press.
Krueger, F., McCabe, K., Moll, J., Kriegeskorte, N., Zahn, R., Strenziok, M., Heinecke, A., Grafman, J. (2007). Neural correlates of trust. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(50), 20084–20089. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0710103104
Krumhuber, E., Manstead, A. S., Cosker, D., Marshall, D., Rosin, P. L., & Kappas, A. (2007). Facial dynamics as indicators of trustworthiness and cooperative behavior. Emotion, 7(4), 730–735. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.4.730
Riedl, R., & Javor, A. (2012). The biology of trust: Integrating evidence from genetics, endocrinology, and functional brain imaging. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 5(2), 63–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026318
Senior, C., Phillips, M. L., Barnes, J., & David, A. S. (2011). An investigation into the perception of dominance from static head images. Perception, 30(6), 669–679. https://doi.org/10.1068/p3069
van ’t Wout, M., & Sanfey, A. G. (2008). Friend or foe: The effect of implicit trustworthiness judgments in social decision-making. Cognition, 108(3), 796–803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.002
Zak, P. J. (2017). The neuroscience of trust. Harvard Business Review, 95(1), 84-90.
Additional Reading
Westover, J. H. (2024). Optimizing Organizations: Reinvention through People, Adapted Mindsets, and the Dynamics of Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.3
Westover, J. H. (2024). Reinventing Leadership: People-Centered Strategies for Empowering Organizational Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.4
Westover, J. H. (2024). Cultivating Engagement: Mastering Inclusive Leadership, Culture Change, and Data-Informed Decision Making. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.5
Westover, J. H. (2024). Energizing Innovation: Inspiring Peak Performance through Talent, Culture, and Growth. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.6
Westover, J. H. (2024). Championing Performance: Aligning Organizational and Employee Trust, Purpose, and Well-Being. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.7
Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Workforce Evolution: Strategies for Adapting to Changing Human Capital Needs. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.8
Westover, J. H. (2024). Navigating Change: Keys to Organizational Agility, Innovation, and Impact. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.11
Westover, J. H. (2024). Inspiring Purpose: Leading People and Unlocking Human Capacity in the Workplace. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.12
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Trust in the Workplace: Understanding How our Brains Make Decisions to Build Effective Organizational Leadership. Human Capital Leadership Review, 15(1). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.15.1.9
