The Dyadic Trust Scale: Toward Understanding Interpersonal Trust in Close Relationships

Abstract

Interpersonal trust is an aspect of close relationships which has been virtually ignored in social scientific research despite its importance as perceived by intimate partners and several family theorists. This article describes the development, validation, and correlates of the Dyadic Trust Scale, a tool designed for such research. It is unidimensional, reliable, relatively free ifrom response biases, and purposely designed to be consistent with conceptualizations qf trust from various perspectives. Dyadic trust proved to be associated with love and with intimacy of self-disclosure, especiallyjfor longer married partners. It varied by level of commitment, being lowest jor ex-partners and highest for those engaged and living together, for newlyweds, and for those married over 20 years. Partners reciprocated trust more than either love or depth qfself-disclosure. Future research could fruitfully relate dyadic trust to such issues as personal growth in relationships, resolving interpersonal conflict, and developing close relationships subsequent to separation or divorce.