Trust

A basic stance toward others that shapes almost every interaction before it begins.

High scorers assume good faith. Low scorers assume self-interest and stay watchful.

One of the facets most likely to depend on who is being trusted — which is exactly what this project measures.

Four public-domain statements, answered on a five-point scale. Items marked − are reverse keyed: agreeing with them counts against the trait, which is what stops agreeing with everything from producing a high score.

• +Trust others
• +Believe that others have good intentions
• +Trust what people say
• -Distrust people

Four items is not many. A facet measured this way carries real uncertainty, which is why every score on this site is reported as a range rather than a single number.

This is one of the traits asked four times over — once for each level of closeness, from your inner circle out to strangers. Our prediction for it: steep.

An affective stance rather than a rule. Expected to gate sharply on closeness.

• +I assume ⟨group⟩ have good intentions.
• +I take ⟨group⟩ at their word.
• -I expect ⟨group⟩ to let me down.

⟨group⟩ is replaced by each of the four closeness anchors in turn.