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Interpersonal Trust Among Students in Virtual Learning Environments: A Comprehensive Review

Marcelo Pereira Barbosa, Rita Suzana Pitangueira Maciel

TL;DR

This systematic mapping identifies 37 interpersonal trust attributes in virtual learning environments, organized into four themes (Ability, Integrity, Affinity, Non-Personal Factors), and clarifies trust definitions and evolutionary phases. By analyzing 46 studies, the authors map how trust is defined, which attributes influence acquisition and erosion, and which VLE features support trust, highlighting heavy emphasis on initial trust and sparse attention to maintenance or restoration. The study validates the use of forums, profiles, and recommendation systems as trust-building tools, while revealing gaps in longitudinal evaluation and real-world testing of proposed features. Practically, the work provides a structured framework (definitions, attributes, and phases) for educators, developers, and researchers to design VLEs that foster sustained student collaboration and learning outcomes, and suggests future directions including TrustBOK and privacy-aware AI approaches.

Abstract

Interpersonal trust is recognized as one of the pillars of collaboration and successful learning among students in virtual learning environments (VLEs). This systematic mapping study investigates attributes, phases, and features that support interpersonal trust among students in VLEs. Analyzing 46 articles, we identified 37 attributes that influence phases of acquiring and losing trust, categorized into four themes: Ability, Integrity, Affinity, and Non-Personal Factors. Attributes such as collaborative and ethical behavior, academic skills, and higher grades are often used to select peers, mainly through recommendation systems and user profiles. To organize our findings, we elaborated two conceptual maps describing the main characteristics of trust definitions and the attributes classification by phases and themes.

Interpersonal Trust Among Students in Virtual Learning Environments: A Comprehensive Review

TL;DR

This systematic mapping identifies 37 interpersonal trust attributes in virtual learning environments, organized into four themes (Ability, Integrity, Affinity, Non-Personal Factors), and clarifies trust definitions and evolutionary phases. By analyzing 46 studies, the authors map how trust is defined, which attributes influence acquisition and erosion, and which VLE features support trust, highlighting heavy emphasis on initial trust and sparse attention to maintenance or restoration. The study validates the use of forums, profiles, and recommendation systems as trust-building tools, while revealing gaps in longitudinal evaluation and real-world testing of proposed features. Practically, the work provides a structured framework (definitions, attributes, and phases) for educators, developers, and researchers to design VLEs that foster sustained student collaboration and learning outcomes, and suggests future directions including TrustBOK and privacy-aware AI approaches.

Abstract

Interpersonal trust is recognized as one of the pillars of collaboration and successful learning among students in virtual learning environments (VLEs). This systematic mapping study investigates attributes, phases, and features that support interpersonal trust among students in VLEs. Analyzing 46 articles, we identified 37 attributes that influence phases of acquiring and losing trust, categorized into four themes: Ability, Integrity, Affinity, and Non-Personal Factors. Attributes such as collaborative and ethical behavior, academic skills, and higher grades are often used to select peers, mainly through recommendation systems and user profiles. To organize our findings, we elaborated two conceptual maps describing the main characteristics of trust definitions and the attributes classification by phases and themes.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 16 sections, 8 figures, 5 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Related Work
  4. Research Methodology
  5. Planning
  6. Conducting
  7. Results
  8. Articles Overview
  9. RQ 1. What interpersonal trust characteristics are considered in virtual learning environment?
  10. RQ 1.1 How is trust defined?
  11. RQ 1.2 What types of interpersonal trust attributes are considered in Virtual Learning Environments?
  12. RQ 1.3 In which evolutionary phases of trust can students interpersonal trust attributes be classified?
  13. RQ 2. Which functionalities in VLEs support student interpersonal trust?
  14. Discussion
  15. Threats to validity
  16. ...and 1 more sections

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: Research Methodology
  • Figure 2: Publication by year
  • Figure 3: Conceptual Map of Trust Definition Elements
  • Figure 4: Motivating factors for interpersonal trust in VLEs
  • Figure 5: Conceptual map of the attributes that influence interpersonal trust in VLEs
  • ...and 3 more figures