Author/s:
Balogun, Anthony Gbenro*
Pure and Applied Psychology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, Nigeria (tonybalogun17@yahoo.com)
Adetula, Gabriel Agboola
Pure and Applied Psychology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, Nigeria (ade_adetula@yahoo.com)
Abstract:
While there is a growing body of empirical studies on the predictors of tacit knowledge sharing behaviour among employees in service and non-service industries, little is known about health workers willingness to share and use tacit knowledge in Nigeria. This study examined how the dimensions of trust (affect-based trust and cognition-based trust) predict willingness to share and use tacit knowledge among health workers in Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. Using a simple random sampling technique, a sample of 410 health workers were randomly selected from a Federal Medical Centre and a State hospital in Ondo State, South-Western Nigeria. Participants’ ages ranged from 22 to 53 years with a mean of 29.61 years (SD = 8.48). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. Results indicated that both affect-based trust and cognition-based trust significantly contributed to healthcare workers willingness to share and use tacit knowledge. However, affect-based trust contributed more than cognition-based trust to willingness to share tacit knowledge while cognition-based trust exerted more influence than affect-based trust on willingness to use tacit knowledge. Hence, we suggest that in order to facilitate tacit knowledge sharing and use among health workers, managements of healthcare sector in Nigeria should establish psychological strategies that can foster affect-based trust and cognition-based trust among health workers.
Keywords: tacit knowledge; trust; health workers; Nigeria
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsm.2015.1070
*Corresponding Author