Trust in Isolated Social Groups on the Example of Teams of Automated Diagnostic Complexes of "Russian Railways"

Introduction. The phenomenon of trust has been the subject of study by many different specialists. Trust is of great importance in collective labor workers working in social isolation. In this paper, this phenomenon is considered in the collectives of specialized train cars, whose employees are in social isolation. The specialized railcars of the Russian Railways are automated diagnostic complexes (hereinafter ADC), where the employees have to live and work together permanently. Internal conditions are institutions and rules that the collective creates, thus forming trust. The phenomenon of trust under internal conditions is considered from the point of view of social psychology.

Objective. To study trust and cohesion that emerges in isolated social groups using ADC collectives as an example.

Materials and Methods. To study internal trust and cohesion both in the teams of ADC and in the teams of the supervising organization, the method of trust study by A. V. Sidorenkov and the method of cohesion study by A. V. Sidorenkov applied. Research was carried out in two stages. The first stage was conducting research in the ADC teams themselves, in the first and second shifts. The second stage was to conduct research in departments of the supervising organization. Mathematical processing of the data included the calculation of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov criterion using the SPSS Statistics.

Results. In the first phase, 78 people from 11 ADCs participated in the research. In the second stage, the study was conducted in different departments (offices) of the ADC organization. 66 people participated in it. The findings showed that trust in isolated collectives of ADCs is lower than trust in departments of the organization. At the same time, cohesion in ADC collectives is higher than cohesion in departments. 

Discussion. The higher level of cohesion but low level of trust in ADC teams compared to similar indicators in the departments of the supervising organization show the difficulty of trust creation. Trust is a kind of social group character, and cohesion is only a short-term phenomenon caused by social isolation. Cohesion is more dynamic and situational; it can be increased through various team building activities.     

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