Abstract:

Leader-member exchange, unlike traditional leadership theories, is based on the relationship between the leader and its subordinate, rather than the characteristics of the leader. Organizational trust, however, is an important phenomenon in the success of all organizations regarding creating a positive intra-organizational environment. Upon examining the literature on the topic, it is observed that there has been an increase in the research studies conducted on leader-member exchange and organizational trust in recent years, but there are merely a limited number of studies which involve in both issues at once. In this study; the relationship between leader-member exchange and organizational trust is examined on teachers. In line with this objective, a personal information form, “Multidimensional Leader-Member Exchange 12” scale developed by Liden and Maslyn (1998), and data collection tool which consists of “Organizational Trust” scale developed by Omorov (2009) are applied to totally 336 volunteering teachers employed at Anatolian high schools located in a province of the Central Anatolian Region.The evaluation of the obtained data is realized using SPSS 22.0 computer software. Correlation analysis is utilized to determine the relationship between leader-member exchange and organizational trust, while the regression analysis is carried out to examine the impacts of leader-member exchange on organizational trust. As a result of the conducted analyses; it is determined that the rise in leader-member exchange (general) increases the teachers’ levels of organizational trust. It is stated that professional respect, as one of the sub-dimensions of leader-member exchange, increases organizational trust (general) and trust toward the organization, while affect and loyalty sub-dimensions increase the level of trust toward the manager. It is found that the other sub-dimensions of leader-member exchange have no significant impacts on organizational trust and its sub-dimensions.

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