THE ASSESSMENT OF TRUST ORIENTATION

The development of the Trust Inventory, a 40-item measure of trust in generalized others (Generalized Trust) and romantic partners (Partner Trust) is described. A third conceptualization of trust in friends and family members (Network Trust) is also discussed. College students (N = 1,229) participated in five stages of test construction and validat ion. Results indicated that the Trust Inventory scales are reliable, b oth internally and temporally, and that the Partner Trust and Generali zed Trust Scales demonstrate both concurrent and construct validity. T he resulting inventory is unique in its capacity to assess these types of trust simultaneously. Evidence supporting the discriminant validit y of the Network Trust was mixed, whereas factor analytic treatments o f Trust Inventory items supported the distinctiveness of Network Trust as compared to Partner and Generalized Trust, the Network Trust Scale correlated to roughly the same degree as the other two scales with se veral variables of differential theoretical relevance. Thus, little ev idence supporting the incremental validity of Network Trust was observ ed. Discussion focuses on the evidence suggesting the validity of inte rpretations of Generalized and Partner Trust and considers the issue o f additional research regarding Network Trust.