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General Social Trust

The General Social Trust scale is an 8-item measure designed to assess an individual’s general level of trust in other people.

Categories

Geographies Tested: United States of America

Populations Included: Female, Male

Age Range: Adolescents, Adults

Items:

  1. In dealing with strangers, one is better off to be cautious until they have provided evidence that they are trustworthy.
  2. In these competitive times, one has to be alert or someone is likely to take advantage of you.
  3. Society will fall apart if the police power that counters criminal activities weakens.
  4. One should not trust others until one knows them well.
  5. Most people tell a lie when they can benefit by doing so.
  6. When someone says something complimentary about you it’s because they want to get something from you.
  7. People will take advantage of you if you work with them.
  8. Given the opportunity, people are dishonest.

Response Options:

Five-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Scoring Procedures

The overall trust score is obtained by adding the scores for the eight items: 8 is the most trusting, 40 is the least trusting.

Original Citation

Yamagishi, T. (1988). The provision of a sanctioning system in the United States and Japan. Social Psychology Quarterly, 265-271. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786924


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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