The Effect of Formal Performance Evaluation and Intrinsic Religiosity on Trust

Lina; Sholihin, Mahfud; Sugiri, Slamet; Handayani, Wuri Article The Effect of Formal Performance Evaluation and Intrinsic Religiosity on Trust Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Lina; Sholihin, Mahfud; Sugiri, Slamet; Handayani, Wuri (2022) : The Effect of Formal Performance Evaluation and Intrinsic Religiosity on Trust, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 9, Iss. 1, pp. 1-29, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/289268 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Published online: 29 Sep 2022. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 4119 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles ACCOUNTING, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & BUSINESS ETHICS | RESEARCH ARTICLE The Effect of Formal Performance Evaluation and Intrinsic Religiosity on Trust Lina 1,2 *, Mahfud Sholihin 3 , Slamet Sugiri 3 and Wuri Handayani 3 Abstract: The current COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide challenge, so organizationsneed to create innovative management to drive effective performance. Effective performance can be achieved, among others, by creating interpersonal trust between employees and supervisors. Therefore, examining the antecedents of this interpersonal trust is an important study. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of formal performance evaluation system and intrinsic religiosity on a person’s trust toward their superiors. Data were obtained using an online questionnaire survey method. A total of 222 full-time faculty members of economics and business from 24 Christian higher education institutions across 14 provinces in Indonesia participated in this study. The data were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. This study provides evidence on the positive effect of formal performance evaluation systems on trust based on social exchange theory. This study also reveals that intrinsic religiosity positively influences subordinates’ trust in their superiors. This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to introduce supernatural monitoring hypothesis as a theoretical base to examine the effect of intrinsic religiosity on trust. Further, this study provides evidence that Lina ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lina Lina is a doctoral student in accounting at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia. Mahfud Sholihin is a Professor at the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. His research interests include management accounting and business and accounting profession ethics. Slamet Sugiri is a Professor at the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. His research interests include management accounting and market-based accounting research. Wuri Handayani is a Professor at the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Her research interests include management accounting and Islamic accounting. PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT Social exchange theory has been widely used in behavioral research which is a theory that can explain the formation of subordinates’ trust in superiors. However, a number of criticisms of the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory show the shortcoming of this theory. Subordinates’ trust in superiors would be better if based on individual internal beliefs. Therefore, this study introduces supernatural monitoring hypothesis to complement social exchange theory. This study examines the effect of a formal performance evaluation system on a person’s trust in their superiors based on social exchange theory. Meanwhile, based on supernatural monitoring hypothesis, this study examines the effect of intrinsic religiosity on a person’s trust in their superiors. This study successfully proves both theories, namely formal performance evaluation system and intrinsic religiosity are the predictors of trust. Thus, supernatural monitoring hypothesis goes beyond the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory in explaining the predictor of trust. Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 1 of 29 Received: 15 March 2022 Accepted: 17 September 2022 *Corresponding author: Lina, Accounting Science Doctoral Programme, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia Email: [email protected] Reviewing editor: David McMillan, The Department is Accounting & Finance, University of Stirling, United Kingdom Additional information is available at the end of the article © 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. supernatural monitoring hypothesis is the complementing theory of social exchange theory in building trust. Subjects: Applied Social Psychology; Personnel Selection, Assessment, and Human Resource Management; Management Accounting; Human Resource Development; Higher Education Management Keywords: Formality of performance evaluation; intrinsic religiosity; interpersonal trust; supernatural monitoring hypothesis; social exchange theory; Indonesian Christian higher education 1. Introduction Current research on performance topic study sustainable performance (Abbas, Hussain et al., 2019; Abbas, Mahmood et al., 2019; Abbas et al., 2020; Li, Abbas et al., 2022). Sustainability is studied as an equation of balance between economic, environmental, and social aspects and determines a fundamental premise of human activity (Li, Abbas et al., 2022). Sustainable performance influenced by corporate social responsibility and social media use (Abbas, Mahmood et al., 2019), knowledge management, knowledge sharing, and organizational learning (Abbas, Hussain et al., 2019; Abbas et al., 2020), and social entrepreneurship through social value creation (Li, Abbas et al., 2022). Literature describe social value as increasing benefits through a system that strives to address social problems that goes beyond financial benefits (Li, Abbas et al., 2022). Further, firm performance, as usually proxied by financial benefit, can be enhanced by the implementation of the right business strategy (Zhang et al., 2022) and the role of chief executive officer (CEO) duality which provides flexible management arrangements (Mubeen et al., 2021). We are currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic that causes uncertain conditions. To overcome these, Azizi et al. (2021) urge paying attention on information technology and human resources management. The advancements of internet technology currently already speed up the practices of social media use that is proven influenced directly by knowledge of COVID-19 and through attitudes toward social media use (Yu et al., 2022). On the other hand, human resource managers who are responsible for managing employee performance should look for innovative and effective ways to solve the problems of employees by creating a reliable management strategy that can promote work motivation, job satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships (Azizi et al., 2021). Thus, the management (including management accountants and human resource managers) needs to manage employees’ performance evaluation and measurement system. Performance evaluation and measurement is a topic that is widely studied in the field of management accounting. 1 Performance measurement is the center of the management control system (Horngren et al., 2015, p. 864) that guides and motivates the managers and other employees (Horngren et al., 2015, p. 864). Performance measurement provides reliable and valuable information about the results, thereby finding solutions to improve performance (Tran & Nguyen, 2020). Performance measurement also reflects the success of the employee (Lau & Moser, 2008) and determines employee remuneration and promotion (Lau, 2011). One of the consequences of performance measurement by superiors studied in management accounting is trust (Hartmann & Slapničar, 2009; Hopwood, 1972; Lau & Buckland, 2001; Lau & Sholihin, 2005). The trust referred to is the interpersonal trust of subordinates’ in their superiors, which has received some attention in the accounting literature over the last decades (Hartmann & Slapničar, 2009; Hopwood, 1972; Lau & Buckland, 2001; Lau & Sholihin, 2005). This trust exists when one party has confidence in an exchange partner’s reliability and integrity (Ghorbanzadeh et al., 2020) and is also operationalized through strong ties that have affective content and develop over time through frequent interactions (Masquefa, 2008). Synergies between interpersonal trust and a formal management control system enhances the motivational effects of trust (Bisbe & Sivabalan, 2017). Jones (1995) revealed that trust between subordinates and superiors would increase the competitive advantage and simultaneously mitigate agency problems by Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 2 of 29 reducing opportunistic behavior (Masquefa, 2008). Trust is related to the intention to depend on each other and the acceptance of being vulnerable (Akrout & La Rocca, 2019). Further, trust has been shown to decrease the risk of inadequate behavior and to avoid failure (Masquefa, 2008), improves cooperation (Ahlf et al., 2019), enhances organizational learning (Kim & Park, 2021; Park & Kim, 2018), promotes collaboration and reduces harmful conflicts (Azizi et al., 2017; Li et al., 2018). Additionally, increased trust will form synergies to achieve common goals and, increase the competitive advantage (Coletti et al., 2005). Hartmann and Slapničar (2009) argued that subordinates’ trust in their superiors is influenced by the degree of formality of performance evaluations and is not influenced by the type of performance measurement. They stated that formal performance evaluation systems 2 show a higher level of integrity, honesty, accuracy, and consistency of the superior to be able to build the subordinates’ trust. It implies that the subordinates’ trust is formed because they view the superior has applied the favorable performance evaluation system. This trust is formed in the occurrence of reciprocity, which is the rule of the social exchange theory and it is transactional in two directions (Blau, 1964; Capistrano & Weaver, 2017; Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005; Gouldner, 1960). Blau (1964) identifies trust as the result of favorable social exchanges. Thus, the first purpose of this study is to give empirical evidence by examining the effect of a formal performance evaluation system on subordinates’ trust 3 to their superior. Management accounting research will produce more established knowledge if there are studies that can be compared in the form of replication studies with consistent results (Shields, 2015). Replication studies are key for moving toward a better understanding of business policy and practice (Tipu & Ryan, 2022). However, there are a number of criticisms of the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory that show the limitations of this theory in forming trust. Social exchange theory is considered to invite exploitation (Gouldner, 1960). Motivation of individuals in social exchange is selfish (Gouldner, 1960), and it is meant to maximize results so as to ignore interpersonal interactions (Cropanzano & Rupp, 2008), and to ignore the values held by the exchanging parties (Molm, 1994). It is emphasized that the reciprocal rule has a conditional connotation which is reflected as positive treatment and reciprocated by positive treatment, while negative treatment is reciprocated by negative treatment. Even the rule of negative reciprocity is morally justified for retaliation (Gouldner, 1960). Perugini and Gallucci (2001) firmly state that reciprocal exchange is not a prosocial act. To overcome the limitations of social exchange theory in forming trust, this study argues that the level of the subordinates’ intrinsic religiosity, as explained by the supernatural monitoring hypothesis (hereafter SMH), can build subordinates’ trust. SMH offers an integrated explanation and implies that the concept of God can promote prosocial behavior by reminding people of the existence of supernatural agents (God) who are constantly alert and capable of making moral judgments (Atkinson & Bourrat, 2011; Batara, 2016; Johnson & Bering, 2006; McKay et al., 2011). How individuals view and experience God through spiritual emotions may strongly influence the value systems and traditions in which they become socialized (Alshehri et al., 2020). In line with SMH, individuals with intrinsic religiosity are likely to realize about the presence of God as monitoring agent which plays an important role in fostering trust in others, including trust in one’s superiors. A religious individual has to trust in things unseen (e.g., God) which thereby leads to more trust in other aspects of life as well, although this conjecture has not yet been examined (Minton, 2019). In line with this, Norenzayan and Shariff (2008) clearly state that the relationship between religious belief and interpersonal trust is a ripe area for research. However, there has been no research that has studied the effect of intrinsic religiosity on interpersonal trust. Therefore, the second purpose of this study is to fill this gap by examining the intrinsic religiosity on a person’s trust toward their superiors. This study used a sample of 222 full-time faculty members of economics and business from 24 Christian higher education under the auspices of the Christian Universities Cooperation Agency in Indonesia (in Bahasa, called Badan Kerjasama Perguruan Tinggi Kristen di Indonesia/BK-PTKI). These Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 3 of 29 higher education institutions are across 14 provinces in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the majority of studies on performance evaluation systems used samples from various companies (Alsaid, 2021; Barbato et al., 2018; Chakhovich, 2019; Hartmann & Slapničar, 2009; Hopwood, 1972; Konno, 2018; Lau & Sholihin, 2005; Otley, 1978; Sardi et al., 2020, 2021; Sholihin & Lau, 2003; Sholihin et al., 2010). Therefore, this study fills in the gap by testing the generalizability of previous studies in a different context. In higher education, trust is a fundamental factor in attaining desirable outcomes (Mohammad, 2020). McMurray and Scott (2013) emphasize that the trust faculty members had in their superiors was one of the important factors in carrying out higher education operations. Uslu (2017) supports McMurray and Scott’s (2013) study, that trust can be one factor for higher education to achieve top rank. Dufty (1980) concludes that if trust in one’s superiors was formed, then those superiors would be better able to influence their subordinates. The choice of the research’s context in higher education was based on the following reasons. Higher education is a knowledge-intensive organisation, strongly based on the use and development of intangible resources such as human capital (Brusca et al., 2020) and associated with a need to achieve economic prosperity (Elhakim & Alhosani, 2022). To develop a country, higher education is needed as it plays a major role in creating expertise and acting as a center of excellence for knowledge creation and human resources development (Kuwaiti et al., 2020; Menon & Suresh, 2021; Romiani et al., 2021; Sukirno & Siengthai, 2011). Therefore, research in higher education deserves attention (Sukirno & Siengthai, 2011). Higher education is a widely known field and provides opportunities for theory testing and becomes significant for empirical research (Godemann et al., 2014). There is still very limited research in the management accounting literature regarding the measurement of faculty members performance in higher education institutions (Otley & Pollanen, 2000; ter Bogt & Scapens, 2012). Therefore, research at higher education institution made it possible to make practical contributions, in the form of the presentation of empirical evidence regarding the influence of formal performance evaluation systems, and intrinsic religiosity, on the trust of faculty members in their superiors. Christian higher education was chosen because based on SMH, individuals with intrinsic religiosity realize that God is omnipresent which can be understood through Christian concepts, namely the concepts of transcendence and immanence. Transcendence is a concept that understands God as the Creator (Barth, 2009), Supreme above the world (Istodor, 2016), and beyond the human mind (Fagg, 2008; Istodor, 2016). While immanence is a concept that understands that God is close to humans (Fagg, 2008) and dwells in humans (Barth, 2009). The experience of inner closeness that characterizes immanence must go hand in hand with the perception that God is inaccessible to the human mind which implies transcendence (Fagg, 2008). Furthermore, Christian higher education offers a curriculum rooted in biblical principles (Guthrie, 2018). Guthrie (2018) emphasizes that to support the curriculum, faculty members in Christian higher education are expected to make full efforts to develop a better biblical point of view, including through regular communal worship/chapels on campus. Several Christian higher education institutions in Indonesia hold joint worship services that must be attended by all faculty members and staff with a regular schedule every week, both at the university level and at the faculty level. Through this joint worship, it is hoped that it will further foster the intrinsic religiosity of each faculty member. Therefore, the use of a sample of faculty members from Christian higher education in this study is expected to be in harmony with the intrinsic religiosity variable. The selection of faculty members of economics and business is based on the argument that these faculty members have a better understanding regarding the performance evaluation than faculty members from other faculties. Faculty members play a key role in the success of the educational institution (Ezzeldin, 2017). Faculty of economics and business play an important role in higher education and in the economic institutions that drive modern society (Starkey & Tiratsoo, 2007). They assert that in the language of management consulting, that is from Boston Consulting’s portfolio matrix, faculties of economics and business are often ‘cash cows”, without Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 4 of 29 which most other university activities, including the survival of some departments, are potentially unsustainable (Starkey & Tiratsoo, 2007). Based on the above description, the research questions are: (1) Does the formal performance evaluation system have a positive effect on subordinates’ trust in superiors? (2) Does intrinsic religiosity have a positive effect on subordinates’ trust in superiors? Using hierarchical regression analysis, this study found that formal performance evaluation systems and intrinsic religiosity affect the subordinates’ trust in their superiors. More importantly, the increase of R 2 and the decreased effect of formal performance evaluations are significant. This implies that the SMH has an explanatory power as has the social exchange theory. Our study makes the following theoretical contributions. First, this study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to introduce SMH as theoretical base to examine the effect of intrinsic religiosity on trust. The evidence that intrinsic religiosity reflects the SMH and can build subordinates’ trust in their superiors shows that this research goes beyond the social exchange theory. Second, whilst most of the previous research in the field of performance evaluation and measurement focused on the use of various types of performance measurements (Buathong & Bangchokdee, 2017; Hopwood, 1972; Ibrahimi & Naym, 2019; Lau & Buckland, 2001; Lau & Sholihin, 2005; Otley, 1978; Rikhardsson et al., 2021), this study focused on the formality of the performance evaluation system in forming trust. This study proves that Hartmann and Slapničar’s (2009) findings can be generalized in different sectors /industries and countries. Generalization is an important aspect in developing knowledge. Third, this study complements the management accounting research literature on performance evaluation systems, which have mostly been carried out in America, Continental Europe, England, Ireland, and Australasia (Hopper & Bui, 2016). This paper is structured as follows: The second section is the literature review. The third section briefly discusses the materials and methods. This is followed by the fourth section, the results and discussion. The final section, the conclusion, explains the implications, limitations, and avenues for future research. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Conceptual Review 2.1.1. Sustainable performance Recently, scholars see business firms’ performance in: (1) broader perspective as covering the overall achievement of organizations that is often reflected in organizational, environmental, and social activities and (2) narrower perspective as corporate performance results from the functions and operations performed by an organization through adequate human resources, relationships with stakeholders, and sustainable practices of corporate social responsibility activities (Li, Alsulaiti et al., 2022). The literature shows that firm performance is influenced by the CEO duality (Mubeen et al., 2021) and product market competition (Mubeen et al., 2022). CEO duality is believed to provide additional capabilities and strengths (Mubeen et al., 2021) while product market competition is a powerful force that builds a better reputation and provides competitive advantage (Mubeen et al., 2022). In addition, top management takes favorable decisions to enhance firm performance by committing to tax avoidance behavior (Zhang et al., 2022). Currently, company leaders increasingly recognize a shift from a focus on shareholder value to an emphasis on a broader stakeholder value with the effort to integrate the social strategy, business model and value chain relative to societal and environmental impact, into core business strategy (Dassel & Wang, 2016). Li, Abbas et al. (2022) describe that when an organization’s social purpose is clear and purpose is inherent in its business model, the organization is called a social enterprise and through the creation of social value, organizations can increase benefits that go beyond financial benefits, Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 5 of 29 not just economic benefits, and reduce costs. Further, this balance situation between environmental and social aspects leads to sustainable performance. To achieve sustainable performance, a company must be able to face a dynamic, complex, and uncertainty environment (Abbas, Mahmood et al., 2019) by paying attention to knowledge management and organizational learning (Abbas et al., 2020). The current spread of COVID-19 creates volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in all organizations. To overcome these conditions and still achieve sustainable performance, reliable human resources management is needed that is effective and intelligent human resources management. It should have the ability to anticipate and detect potential risks and problems, prevent disruptions in the performance of information technology systems, maintain adequate performance, solve problems to promote effective performance and learn through experience that leads to promotion of work motivation, job satisfaction, organizational values, commitment and interaction, and managers’ abilities and interpersonal relationships (Azizi et al., 2021). Also during the pandemic of COVID-19, management should regard the performance of information technology systems including practices of social media use which has been proven to be influenced by knowledge of COVID-19 and through attitudes toward social media use (Yu et al., 2022). 2.1.2. Formal performance evaluation system Hartmann and Slapničar (2009) introduced a formal performance evaluation system that has three dimensions, namely target setting, performance measurement, and rewarding dimensions. In the target setting dimension, a high level of formality indicates a situation where the supervisor explains the performance targets in a quantitative and written manner. In the performance measurement dimension, a high level of formality implies the use of quantitative and objective measures, rather than the use of qualitative and subjective measures that make up informal performance appraisals. In the rewarding dimension, a high level of formality means using a formula for awarding rewards and bonuses, not using personal judgments that cannot be traced. Thus, it can be concluded that the formal performance evaluation system is an evaluation system that sets work targets quantitatively and is documented, measures performance quantitatively by comparing targets with achievements, and provides rewards in accordance with established regulations. 2.1.3. Intrinsic religiosity Intrinsic religiosity refers to an individual who lives his religion (Allport & Ross, 1967). Individuals with strong intrinsic religiosity are motivated to live their daily lives according to their religious teaching (Arli et al., 2021; Arli & Tjiptono, 2022) and views religion as an end in itself (Arli et al., 2022). Intrinsic religiosity refers to religious values, conducts, and experiences (Dinh et al., 2022). Davari et al. (2017) state that individuals who practice religious principles with an orientation towards a personal relationship with God and show more spiritual nature are referred to as individuals who have intrinsic religiosity. In the business context, individuals who have intrinsic religiosity will view their duties as a calling (Brotheridge & Lee, 2007; Gul & Ng, 2018) and not related to rewards thereby encouraging positive behavior in the work environment (Gul & Ng, 2018). Based on a number of views that have been presented, it can be concluded that individuals who have intrinsic religiosity are individuals who are obedient and earnest in carrying out their religion. 2.1.4. Trust Trust plays an important role and appears to be a central psychological construct in social relationships (Ahlf et al., 2019). Trust is related to the intention to depend on each other (Akrout & La Rocca, 2019). Trusting each other is essential for effective exchange, and without it, there can be constant and chronic harm in individual and team outcomes (Kistyanto et al., 2022). Trust enhances the duration of exchange relationships (Dadzie et al., 2018). Rousseau et al. (1998) introduced one form of trust, namely relational-based interpersonal trust which is a long-term trust between two parties formed through repeated interactions over time. This interpersonal trust includes not only a belief in positive intentions but also the absence of negative intentions giving Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 6 of 29 rise to conditions of high trust or low distrust. The interdependence of parties on interpersonal trust is likely to increase over time due to new opportunities and initiatives. Interpersonal trust reflected the interaction between two contact persons based on their relationship (Li et al., 2018). Interpersonal trust is defined as trust established between employees and supervisors (Bone, 2017). Thus, interpersonal trust is an important psychological construct in social relationships formed by repeated interactions over time between two parties. 2.2. Theoretical Review Social exchange theory has been widely used in behavioral research which is a theory that can explain the formation of subordinates’ trust in superiors. However, a number of criticisms of the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory have led to the need for further study further about the formation of subordinates’ trust in superiors which would be better if based on individual internal beliefs. Therefore, this study introduces SMH which is a theory originating from the realm of religion to complement social exchange theory. 2.2.1. Social exchange theory Blau (1964) defines social exchange as (1) an individual’s voluntary action motivated by expected returns from others, (2) the principle that one person provides assistance to another and there is a general expectation of a future reward of a clearly undetermined nature, and (3) a causal relationship and the character of the relationship between the exchanging parties may influence the process of social exchange. Therefore, social exchange requires the trust of others to carry out their obligations and a successful exchange process can cause one individual to become committed to another (Blau, 1964; Liyanaarachchi et al., 2021) based on the belief that the exchange would produce benefits for both parties (Zoller & Muldoon, 2019). In other words, social exchange theory involves a series of positive interactions characterized by an effective exchange (Afsar et al., 2020), mutual trust (Chiu & Chiang, 2019), and yields positive outcomes such as trust in their superiors (Groen, 2018). In general, Gouldner (1960) states that the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory make two interrelated minimal demands: (1) people must help those who have helped them and (2) people must not hurt those who have helped them. Thus, these rules depend on previous actions or intentions perceived by others (Davidson, 2019; Tsen et al., 2021). Rules of reciprocity are a key to the interpersonal relationships (Capistrano & Weaver, 2017) and can lead to increased trust between the two parties thereby increasing the likelihood of remaining in a mutually beneficial relationship (Dodgson et al., 2020). Social exchange theory was used in this study because the perception of subordinates on the application of a formal performance evaluation system will shape the trust of subordinates to their superiors. This trust is an important variable for understanding social exchange (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). Trusting each other is crucial for effective exchanges, and without it, the constant and chronic jeopardy in individual and team outcomes is evident (Kistyanto et al., 2022). The formation of this trust is in line with the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). This reciprocity rule clearly shows that subordinates’ trust in their superiors is created because their superiors have previously implemented a performance evaluation system that is deemed adequate. 2.2.2. Supernatural monitoring hypothesis SMH has been widely used in religious studies in studying individual prosocial (Atkinson & Bourrat, 2011; Bourrat & Viciana, 2016; Johnson & Bering, 2006) and individual collaboration (Bateson et al., 2006; Bourrat & Viciana, 2016; Norenzayan et al., 2016; Rossano, 2007). However, SMH has not been used in the realm of management accounting research. It is hoped that SMH can explain the formation of subordinates’ trust in their superiors which is triggered by the individual’s internal beliefs (in this case, intrinsic religiosity) and not only determined by external factors (in this case, the formal performance evaluation system). Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 7 of 29 and the remaining 27.03% have a Doctorate degree. The three provinces with the highest response rates were East Java with 40 responses, followed by West Java with 33 responses, and East Nusa Tenggara with 25 responses. In line with the total population, the highest response rate was obtained from faculty members of the management study program, amounted to 132 responses. One hundred and twenty three senior faculty members, with working experience of more than 10 years participated in this study. From academic positions, the faculty members who had academic positions as assistant professors dominated in giving responses, amounting to 174, 31 respondents who held positions as associate professors, one respondent was a full professor, and the remaining 16 were lecturers. The faculty members without structural positions dominated in giving responses, amounting to 62.61%. Figures 2 and 3 show the demographics of respondents presented in graphic form and aims to give a better understanding (Abbas, Raza et al., 2019; Abbasi et al., 2020; Mubeen et al., 2020, 2022). The demographics of respondents are shown in Figure 2 and the demographics of respondents by province are shown in Figure 3. 3.3. Model specifications To test the hypotheses, this study used a hierarchical regression analysis with the following specification: Model 1 Interpersonal Trust ¼α0þβ1Formal Performance Evaluationþβ2Gender þβ3Age þβ4Educational Background þβ5Length of Work þβ6Academic Position þβ7Structural Position Model 2 Interpersonal Trust ¼α0þβ1Formal Performance Evaluation þβ2Intrinsic Religiosity þβ3Genderþβ4Age þβ5Educational Background þβ6Length of Work þβ7Academic Position þβ8Structural Position 4. Result and Discussion 4.1. Descriptive statistics The intrinsic religiosity variable has an average value of 4.345. The average value for the formal performance evaluation system variable is 4.083 and if broken down into three dimensions, the target setting is 3.937, the performance measurement is 3.914, and the rewarding is 4.341. The average value for the trust variable is 3.973. The summary of the descriptive statistics for each variable can be seen in Table 3 below. 40; 18.02% 33; 14.86% 25; 11.26% 23; 10.36% 21; 9.46% 17; 7.66% 14; 6.31% 12; 5.41% 12; 5.41% 10; 4.50% 10; 4.50% 2; 0.90% 2; 0.90% 1; 0.45% 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 East Java West Java East Nusa Tenggara Banten Jakarta Capital Special Region Maluku South Sulawesi Central Java Bali Special Region of Yogyakarta Papua North Sumatera Central Sulawesi North Maluku Figure 3. Demographic of respondents by province. Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 14 of 29 Table 3. Descriptive statistics Variables N Theoretical Value Actual Value Mean Standard Deviation Min Max Min Max Formal PE 222 1 5 1 5 4.083 0.682 Formal PE_Target Setting 222 1 5 1 5 3.937 0.850 Formal PE_Performance Measurement 222 1 5 1 5 3.914 0.864 Formal PE_Rewarding 222 1 5 1 5 4.341 0.737 Intrinsic Religiosity 222 1 5 2.13 5 4.345 0.591 Trust 222 1 5 1 5 3.973 0.781 Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 15 of 29 Table 4. The results of hierarchical regression analysis Model 1 Model 2 Variables Coefficient p-value Variables Coefficient p-value Constant 1.025 0.001 Constant 0.298 0.440 Formal PE 0.730 0.000*** Formal PE 0.669 0.000*** Gender 0.029 0.743 Gender 0.000 0.998 Age 0.071 0.507 Age 0.095 0.365 Educational Background −0.065 0.504 Educational Background −0.055 0.563 Length of Employment 0.065 0.533 Length of Employment 0.045 0.659 Academic Position −0.156 0.350 Academic Position −0.135 0.409 Structural Position 0.127 0.134 Structural Position 0.120 0.149 Intrinsic Religiosity 0.225 0.002*** ***p < 0.01 ***p < 0.01 R 2 = 40.90% R 2 = 43.30% F = 22.869; F = 22.060; p-value = 0.000 p-value = 0.000 Formal Performance Evaluation System Intrinsic Religiosity Trust H1 H2 Control Variables: •Gender 0.000 •Age 0.095 •Educational background -0.055 •Length of time in employment 0.045 •Academic position -0.135 •Structural posititon 0.120 0.669*** 0.225*** *** p < 0.01 Solid line = Significant link Dotted line = Nonsignificant link Figure 4. Hypotheses result. Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 16 of 29 4.2. Hypotheses testing The hypotheses were tested using Hierarchical Regression Analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software. Table 4 presents the results of the hypotheses testing. Based on model 1, this study successfully provides evidence to support H 1 (p value = 0.000; coefficient = 0.730). The formal performance evaluation system positively affects subordinates’ trust in their superiors. Additionally, based on model 2, the result shows that intrinsic religiosity has a positive influence on subordinates’ trust in their superiors (p value = 0.002; coefficient = 0.225). Therefore, this study provides evidence to support H 2 . The models show there is a significant increase of R 2 , from 40.90% (model 1) to 43.30% (model 2). The change in R 2 is 0.024, and the significance value of change is 0.000. Figure 4 below shows the hypotheses results. 4.3. Discussions 4.3.1. Overcoming the pandemic of COVID-19 The appearance of the COVID-19 outbreak has most severely affected developing countries especially because of the lack of healthcare systems, resources, and governance (Wang et al., 2021). The pandemic spread has massively affected significant factors of the economy, such as imports, exports, remittance, public health, tourism, steel, agriculture, real estate, and pharmaceutical sectors (Wang et al., 2021) including educational institutions (Zhou et al., 2022). The pandemic caused mental stress (Wang et al., 2021) and influenced human behaviors (Zhou et al., 2022), leading people to rely on updates through social media platforms (Wang et al., 2021; Zhou et al., 2022). Zhou et al. (2022) studied the efficacy of social media to manage COVID-19 challenges. The use of social media provides an important solution for finding public communication in order to follow preventative measures in managing the damage and health crisis from the COVID-19 disease and to stay connected with family members, peers and friends. Social media technology is vital to help all spheres of life in society to get back to the next normal, that is work from home for business activities and online learning methods applied in universities and educational institutions. Further, organizations, business managers, and financial experts need adequate and innovative organizational skills, innovative business plans, and entrepreneurship to overcome the crisis (Zhou et al., 2022). Entrepreneurship and technological innovation play a crucial role in developing the economy and education is needed to support the entrepreneur’s performance in business survival (Ge et al., 2022). Thus, to overcome all the problems caused by the pandemic of COVID-19 and achieve sustainable performance, companies need to create innovative management through continuous learning and information technology development. In practice, the company should have reliable human resources to create the effective and intelligent management in general especially in human resources and accounting department. These departments are considered to be responsible for the development and implementation of knowledge management, organizational learning, and information technology to solve problems and to promote effective performance. Effective performance can be achieved, among others, by creating interpersonal trust between employees and supervisors so that examining the antecedents of interpersonal trust is a necessity. 4.3.2. The effect of formal performance evaluation and intrinsic religiosity on trust This study provides evidence on the positive effect of formal performance evaluation systems, as used by those in charge, on their subordinates’ trust in them. This result is consistent with Hartmann and Slapničar (2009). The degree of formality can shape the subordinates’ perceptions about the higher quality of the performance evaluation. The subordinates view a higher quality of the performance evaluation as having a higher level of integrity, honesty, accuracy, and consistency. It means the faculty members’ trust is formed because they view the superior has applied the favorable performance evaluation system. It implies the reciprocity rule of social exchange Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 17 of 29 theory. This exchange occurs because subordinates feel obliged to reciprocate the treatment of their superiors (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). Thus, subordinates who have received good treatment from their superiors will be obliged to do the right thing for the relationship by showing trust in their superiors. Faculty members’ trust in their superiors is an important factor in carrying out higher education operations in order to achieve top rank (McMurray & Scott, 2013; Uslu, 2017). When trust is formed, the superiors will be better able to influence their subordinates (Dufty, 1980). In their additional test, Hartmann and Slapničar (2009) used the term contractibility to indicate differences in the ease of measuring an output. Outputs that are easily measured and traceable are said to be highly contractible, which can be found in front office managers who have responsibilities relating to market and consumer transactions. The result is that the level of formality in the performance evaluation system is less influential for front office managers. In their daily work, faculty members interact directly with students who are the main consumers or clients of higher education (Gremler & McCollough, 2002; Guolla, 1999; Hill et al., 2003; Sander et al., 2000). Overall, faculty members can be analogous to managers who are highly contractible. However, the findings of this study suggest that a formal performance evaluation system can shape the trust of the faculty members toward their superiors. This study is the first study to examine intrinsic religiosity as a predictor of trust and proves that intrinsic religiosity positively influences subordinates’ trust in their superiors. Intrinsic religiosity shows the value of the individual which reflects how the individual follows their religion and even how they live their religion. Individuals’ intrinsic religiosity represent the internal beliefs of Table 5. The results of hierarchical regression analysis when formal performance evaluation is broken down into its three dimensions Model 1 Model 2 Variables Coefficient p-value Variables Coefficient p-value Constant 1.220 0.000 Constant 0.422 0.258 Formal PE_Target Setting 0.240 0.002*** Formal PE_Target Setting 0.212 0.005*** Formal PE_Performance Measurement 0.369 0.000*** Formal PE_Performance Measurement 0.366 0.000*** Formal PE_Rewarding 0.077 0.222 Formal PE_Rewarding 0.036 0.563 Gender 0.048 0.576 Gender 0.017 0.835 Age 0.105 0.310 Age 0.135 0.183 Educational Background −0.058 0.535 Educational Background −0.047 0.608 Length of Employment 0.102 0.312 Length of Employment 0.083 0.399 Academic Position −0.154 0.344 Academic Position −0.130 0.410 Structural Position 0.159 0.054* Structural Position 0.154 0.055* Intrinsic Religiosity 0.251 0.000*** ***p < 0.01; *p < 0.10 ***p < 0.01; *p < 0.10 R 2 = 44.70% R 2 = 47.70% F = 20.811; F = 21.124; p-value = 0.000 p-value = 0.000 Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 18 of 29 individuals, who represent the core values of religion and view religion as the ultimate goal of life. Individual life approaches with high intrinsic religiosity are always based on the teachings of their religion and always rely on God. Faculty members with intrinsic religiosity always make their best effort at work and think positively, so they are able to build trust in others, including in their superiors. Faculty members’ trust in their superiors that is formed due to their intrinsic religiosity means that the faculty members have indeed lived their religion. Faculty members with high intrinsic religiosity will be able to focus and cling to God, and believe that God is always present and watching. This result is in line with the SMH. Further, intrinsic religiosity, as a predictor of trust, goes beyond the theory of social exchange in building trust. 4.4. Additional analysis An additional analysis was carried out to further test which dimension is the most influential among the three dimensions of formal performance evaluation systems, that is the dimensions of target setting, performance measurement, and rewarding. An additional analysis for model 1, as shown in Table 5, was conducted to examine separately the influence of the dimensions of the formal performance evaluation system on trust, that is target setting, performance measurement, and rewarding. The result showed that the target setting dimension had a positive and significant influence on trust (p value = 0.002, coefficient = 0.240). This result indicated that the trust of faculty members is formed because, when setting targets, their superiors explicitly document these targets in written form and describe them quantitatively. The dimension of performance measurement also had a positive and significant effect on trust (p value = 0.000, coefficient = 0.369). This showed that the performance of faculty members, when measured quantitatively and the dependence of those in charge on objective information from the applied information system, can lead to the faculty members’ having trust in their superiors. As educators, faculty members view the quantitative assessment and objective information that is used by their superiors for assessing their performance as accurate measures and shows the integrity of their superiors, which ultimately become the impetus for trust in the superiors. The rewarding dimension had no influence on trust (p value = 0.222, coefficient = 0.077). Although faculty members can be analogous to highly contractible managers because they interact directly with students, the nature of the work is very different from that of a front office manager (i.e., salesperson) whose performance is generally measured based on the output units sold. In the end, faculty members know the applied rewards (salary and bonus/salary increase) are not based on objective and quantitative information from the information system used. Additional analysis using model 2, as shown in Table 5, indicated that intrinsic religiosity is responsible for the increase of R 2 . The R 2 change is 0.030 with a significance value of 0.000. The result of this additional analysis confirms that the supernatural monitoring hypothesis goes beyond the social exchange theory in explaining the formation of faculty members’ trust in their superiors. 5. Conclusion 5.1. Conclusion Using a sample of 222 faculty members working at Christian higher education institutions in Indonesia, this study confirms two theories in examining interpersonal trust. First, it is evident that formal performance evaluation systems have a positive influence on trust. Formal performance evaluation reflects a higher level of integrity, honesty, accuracy, and consistency of the superiors. This encourages subordinates to give their trust to superiors. This situation is in line with the reciprocity rule of social exchange theory. Second, this research also proved that intrinsic religiosity has a positive influence on trust. Based on SMH, individuals with intrinsic religiosity tend to realize the presence of God as a monitoring agent in a positive sense which plays an important role in growing trust in others, including trust in superiors. These results indicate that SMH is the answer to a number of criticisms of social exchange theory and at the same time makes SMH a complementary theory of social exchange theory. Lina et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2127191 Page 19 of 29 5.2. Implications The theoretical implication, which is the novelty of this research, is to provide evidence that intrinsic religiosity based on the supernatural monitoring hypothesis is a predictor of trust. This result goes beyond the reciprocity rules of social exchange theory in building trust. There are two practical implications of this study. First, higher education should implement objective and quantitative performance evaluation systems as such in formal performance evaluation system. Second, higher education needs to realize the importance of faculty members’ intrinsic religiosity in building trust. 5.3. Policy recommendations The use of self-reported data is often seen as a limitation. However, the use of self-reported data was considered to be the most appropriate for this study because intrinsic religiosity is a very personal individual concept, as well as a belief. Future research can examine whether similar results would be obtained if using a sample of faculty members from other particular religious affiliations higher education institutions. It is also interesting to study whether faculty members who are members of higher education without a particular religious affiliation will show the same results. Furthermore, future research can also study samples other than faculty members. Funding This research is funded by the Final Project Recognition Grant, Batch I, No. 3550/UN1.P.III/Dit-Lit/PT.01.05/2022 from Universitas Gadjah Mada. Author details Lina 1,2 E-mail: [email protected] ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0801-0468 Mahfud Sholihin 3 ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0773-4501 Slamet Sugiri 3 Wuri Handayani 3 1 Accounting Science Doctoral Programme, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 2 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Banten, Indonesia. 3 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). This research is part of the author’s dissertation, which is currently being finalised. Citation information Cite this article as: The Effect of Formal Performance Evaluation and Intrinsic Religiosity on Trust, Lina, Mahfud Sholihin, Slamet Sugiri & Wuri Handayani, Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2127191. Notes 1. A review of the Management Accounting Research journal since its first publication in 1990 to 2014 shows that the topic of performance measurement is the most researched topic: 90 of the total 475 articles (Hopper & Bui, 2016). Of this total, 30% are explored in America and around 20% are explored in Continental Europe, England, Ireland and Australasia. A mapping of quantitative management accounting research from 2002–2012 by Herschung et al. (2018) shows that the topics of performance measurement and incentives dominated as many as 81 papers (32%) out of a total of 257 papers. This mapping was carried out on 6 well-known journals, i.e. Accounting, Organization, and Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Management Accounting Research, and The Accounting Review. 2. A formal performance evaluation system is an evaluation system that sets out performance targets, measures performance using a clear set of metrics, and rewards based on clear allocation rules (Hartmann & Slapničar, 2009). 3. Trust in this study refers to relational-based interpersonal trust, which is a “long-term trust between two parties formed through repeated interactions over time” (Rousseau et al., 1998, p. 399). 4. One of the researchers pursued his Masters and Ph.D. in English speaking countries and has published papers in various high quality international journals. Therefore, we are confident with the accuracy of the translation. This is supported by the high reliability and validity of the instruments as discussed in the results and discussions section. 5. Tridharma perguruan tinggi refers to the three main tasks of Indonesian faculty members: (1) carrying out teaching, (2) conducting research, and (3) doing community service and supporting activities (Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers Article 72). 6. The academic position is a position that shows the duties, responsibilities, authority, and rights of a faculty member in a higher education which refers to the Regulation of the Minister of Administrative Reform-Permenpan Number 17 of 2013, chapter 1, article 1. Academic positions include (1) lecturer or not yet having an academic position, (2) assistant professor, (3) associate professor, and (4) full professor as stated in Regulation of the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education- Permenristekdikti Number 164/M/KPT/2019. 7. 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