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. 2022 Mar 15;15(1):20-34.
doi: 10.11621/pir.2022.0102. eCollection 2022.

The Psychological Space of Professionals' Trust and Distrust in Socio-Technical Systems

Anna Yu Akimova  1 , Aleksander A Oboznov  2
Affiliations

The Psychological Space of Professionals' Trust and Distrust in Socio-Technical Systems

Anna Yu Akimova et al. Psychol Russ. .

Abstract

Background: The spatial aspect of professionals' trust and distrust in socio-technical systems has not been sufficiently explored. The study of its structure, criteria for spatial distribution, and interrelationships of elements is of both scientific and practical interest.

Objective: To perform a comparative analysis of the trust and distrust experienced by professional operators in a socio-technical system of subject-subject and subject-object interactions.

Design: This work is based on A.B. Kupreychenko's methodological approach to studying trust and distrust in socio-technical systems, adapted by the authors to the railway transport system in Russia. The subjects were 86 locomotive crew members. The main focus was on their trust/distrust in the operation of the socio-technical (railway transport) system, including their workmates, managers, and themselves, as well as the technical objects they operate (locomotives), manufacturers of railway equipment, and conditions of its operation.

Results: The authors identified two relatively independent groups of indicators of trust/distrust in subject-subject and subject-object interactions. Trust in the elements of subject-subject interactions (involving workmates, managers, and the study participants themselves as specialists) was reliably higher than their trust in the elements of subject-object interactions (technical objects, manufacturers of railway equipment, and conditions of its operation). The correlations between trust and distrust in the elements of the socio-technical system were positive.

Conclusions: Trust and distrust perform the functions of integrating/differentiating elements of a socio-technical system according to their predictability in various operating conditions. The degree of trust/distrust in the system elements and their "location" in the space of trust/distrust are important when professionals make decisions in the course of performing professional actions. The results of the study can be used for designing socio-technical systems to increase the predictability of their operation in unstable conditions.

Keywords: Socio-technical system; distrust; subject–object interactions; subject–subject interactions; trust.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.
The results of hierarchical cluster analysis of the indicators of the operators’ trust/distrust in the elements of the railway transport system
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