Followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness affect their trust in the leader (Colquitt et al., 2007). However, because positive benefits of trust generally accrue when trust is reciprocated, examining when and why followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness elicit leader’s trust in followers may provide heuristic and practical value. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine if followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness elicit leaders’ trust in followers, casting follower’s perceptions of leader–member exchange (LMX) quality as a mediator and their perceptions of empowerment as moderating this mediated relationship.,Followers’ perception of leader trustworthiness was measured at Time 1, followers’ perceptions of empowerment and LMX were measured at Time 2 and leaders’ trust in followers was measured in Time 3. The authors tested the research model with data collected from 347 leader–follower dyads using the three time-lagged surveys as noted above.,Followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness and perceptions of empowerment interacted to influence followers’ perceptions of LMX quality, which in turn influenced leaders’ trust in followers. Thus, LMX mediated the trustworthiness–trust relationship and this mediated relationship became stronger at increasing levels of empowerment.,Being trusted by leaders is beneficial to followers. Training managers in behaviors that elicit employees’ perceptions of manager trustworthiness has the potential to accrue benefits to employees, managers and the organization.,This study is the first to demonstrate that followers’ perception of leader trustworthiness resulted in leaders trusting followers. In addition, the results support a mediating role for LMX and a moderating role for empowerment in the development of leader trust in the follower. Understanding when and why leaders trust followers offers important insights about development of trust between followers and leaders. The authors discuss implications for theory and practice.

中文翻译：

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领导人何时以及为何信任追随者

追随者对领导者信任度的看法会影响他们对领导者的信任（Colquitt等，2007）。但是，由于信任通常会在互惠互利时产生积极的好处，因此研究追随者对领导者信任度的理解以及何时以及为什么会引起领导者对跟随者的信任可能会提供启发性和实用价值。因此，本文的目的是检验追随者对领导者信任度的看法是否会引起领导者对追随者的信任，是否将追随者对领导者－成员交流（LMX）作为中介者的质量的看法以及他们对授权的看法是否会缓和这种介导的关系。 ，在时间1衡量跟随者对领导者信任度的看法，在时间2衡量跟随者对领导能力和LMX的看法，并在时间3衡量领导者对跟随者的信任度。作者使用上述三个时间滞后调查，使用从347位领导者跟随者收集的数据对研究模型进行了测试。跟随者对领导者信任度的看法和对授权的看法相互影响，从而影响了追随者对LMX质量的看法。影响了领导者对追随者的信任。因此，LMX介导了信任-信任关系，并且随着授权水平的提高，这种介导的关系变得更加牢固。领导者的信任对追随者有利。对管理人员进行能够引起员工对管理人员信任感的行为的培训，有可能为员工，管理者和组织带来收益。这项研究首次证明了追随者对领导者可信度的感知导致领导者信任跟随者。此外，结果在支持者对领导者信任的发展中支持LMX的中介作用和授权的调节作用。了解领导者何时以及为什么信任追随者可以提供有关追随者与领导者之间信任发展的重要见解。作者讨论了对理论和实践的启示。