The Impact Of Trust And Interdependence On Information Exchange Between Conflict Parties In Construction Projects

It is difficult to avoid the conflict in construction,and the information exchange between contractors and owners is critical to conflict resolution.But the degree of information exchange in practice is very low.While studies have shown that trust and interdependence can affect information exchange,there is little consideration of conflict situations.Therefore,on the basis of the existing theories,this study puts forward the model which shows the common influence of different dimensions of trust and interdependence on information exchange in the process of conflict resolution.In order to test the assumptions,we used questionnaires to collect data from 211 project professionals of contractors and owners in China.We did the hierarchical regression analysis and Bootstrap mediation test methods to test the hypothesis.The results show that competence trust,total interdependence and interdependence asymmetry will positively affect the information exchange when trust and interdependence act alone on information exchange.And when trust and interdependence act together on information exchange,in the case of symmetric dependence,total interdependence positively affects competence trust and goodwill trust,and competence trust positively mediates the influence between the total interdependence and information exchange,goodwill trust negatively mediates such an effect.In the case of asymmetric dependence,when competence trust is below average level,it strengthens the positive effect of interdependence asymmetry on information exchange,and above average level,it weakens such an effect.While only when the goodwill trust is above the average level,it can strengthen the positive effect of interdependence asymmetry on information exchange.This study reveals the mechanism of different dimensions of trust and interdependence on information exchange in conflict situations.It also expands the research on information exchange,trust and interdependence.At the same time,it can provide a theoretical guide for contractors and owners to better resolve the conflict.