The mediating role of trust between expatriate procedural justice and employee outcomes in Chinese hotel industry

This study draws from social exchange theory to examine the roles cognitive and affective trust play in mediating the relationship between expatriate supervisors and their local employees. We differentiate the two forms of trust by proposing, on the one hand, that cognitive trust mediates the relationship between the procedural justice displayed by expatriate supervisors and job satisfaction and organizational commitment of their employees and, on the other hand, that affective trust mediates the relationship between the procedural justice displayed by expatriates and the level of employee satisfaction with and altruism toward their supervision. We then support the hypotheses by using structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data collected from 286 employees working with expatriate supervisors in China's hotel industry. Implications of the findings are discussed.