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 validation. Results indicated that the Trust Inventory scales are reliable, both internally and temporally, and that the Partner Trust and Generalized Trust Scales demonstrate both concurrent and construct validity. The resulting inventory is unique in its capacity to assess these types of trust simultaneously. Evidence supporting the discriminant validity of the Network Trust was mixed, whereas factor analytic treatments of 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 several variables of differential theoretical relevance. Thus, little evidence supporting the incremental validity of Network Trust was observed Discussion focuses on the evidence suggesting the validity of interpretations of Generalized and Partner Trust and considers the issue of additional research regarding Network Trust.     

Trust,Respect, and the Psychology of Political Engagement1

Local community involvement has long been regarded as central to citizens’ participation in the political process because it is believed to create attitudes of generalized trust that encourage citizens to become involved in governance. Recently Putnam (1995a) has argued that declining opportunities for community involvement have led to decreased trust in others, and this contributes to declining rates of voting in elections. This paper directly tests the validity of Putnam's argument. It shows that civic participation is related to political participation, but only through the mediating mechanism of generalized trust. The paper further examines why citizens participate in their communities. It finds that people participate more in their communities when they feel that they are respected members of those communities. Implications for psychological theory and political mobilization are discussed.     

A Social Dilemma Analysis of Commuting Preferences: The Roles of Social Value Orientation and Trust1

The current research advances a social dilemma analysis of commuting, examining the roles of preexisting personality differences in social value orientation (i.e., prosocial vs. proself orientation) and trust (i.e., a general belief in the honesty and cooperative intentions of others) in determining preferences for collectively desirable commuting options: preferences for commuting by public transportation (Study 1) and carpooling (Study 2). Consistent with predictions, both studies revealed that, relative to p of prosocials, preferences of proselfs were more strongly associated with beliefs about the relative efficiency of cars (i.e., an outcome affecting personal well-being). Also, greater preferences for collectively desirable actions were observed among prosocials with high trust—relative to prosocials with low trust and proselfs with high or low trust—providing support for the claim that 2 conditions (i.e., prosocial goals and trust in others) must be met to obtain collectively desirable commuting preferences.     

A Contextual Approach to Political Theory

This article explores the advantages of using a range of actual cases in doing political theory. This sort of approach clarifies what is at stake in alternative theoretical formulations, draws attention to the wisdom that may be embedded in existing practices, and encourages theorists to confront challenges they might otherwise overlook and to think through the implications of their accounts more fully.     

信任论纲

<正>在任何形式的社会合作中,信任都是不可或缺的。中国古代文明将 "诚"和 "信"作为重要的德目,乃至作为做人和进入社会以及为政和构建社会秩序的根本准则来看待。在欧洲,自罗马帝国始,"遵守承诺和信守契约"被看作是公正的基础 ( 西塞罗,第 13 页) ,成为普遍的商业乃至司法原则,并形成悠久的文化传统。现代性制度在本质上与信任相关。20 世纪下半叶,全球化的发展和现代化的深化特别是 "风险社会"的出现,使信任问题极大地凸显出来,成为全球性问题和社会矛盾     

Political Theory and Political Practice

What is the role of political theory in the real world of politics? Opinions have varied about this, ranging from Plato’s arguments for philosopher-kings to Marx’s relegation of political philosophy to the realms of mere ideology. This paper contrasts the competing claims of intellectualism vs pragmatism in politics. It explores the ends/means relation as one account of how ideas and actions might be connected. This relation is found to be inadequate, and with it the more ambitious claims of intellectualism. But an argument is advanced for the qualification of pragmatism with a more modest account of the role of ideas in politics.     

A Test of the Theory of Planned Behavior for Two Health-Related Practices1

This study tested the utility of the theory of planned behavior in predicting two health-related behaviors. The first behavior (breast self-exam) is relatively simple, while the second (exercise) is complex. Data were utilized from health risk appraisals completed on 185 telephone company employees. Attitude, normative belief, and self-efficacy measures served to predict behavioral intention and subsequent attempt to change both the behaviors. As tested in path models, the results for breast self-examination were closer to the results expected from theory, with less good fit for exercise. Different models were developed for each behavior, although the self-efficacy measures made independent contributions to each. While the theory of planned behavior received support in the data, the results suggest that different models may appropriate for different types of behavior.     

Migration and Cultural Orientation: An Empirical Test of the Psychoanalytic Theory in Chinese Americans

The psychoanalytic literature suggests migration entails an intra-psychic challenge of separation–individuation that necessitates the assistance of internal and external objects. While this has been illustrated by anecdotal data and clinical case material, it has not been previously tested in the general migrant community. This study examined three Chinese-American groups who varied in the availability of external objects (i.e., primary caretakers) and stability and solidity of internal object and self representations due to varying developmental stages at the time of migration, and assessed whether, as predicted by some psychoanalytic writers, they would have differential need to embrace their native culture to support their transition. Results showed that unaccompanied minors who migrated without their parents during adolescence evidenced a stronger Chinese cultural orientation than both accompanied minors who migrated with their parents during childhood (perhaps due to less access to external objects) and unaccompanied adults who migrated without their parents during adulthood (perhaps due to less well internalized objects), lending empirical support for the psychoanalytic postulation. Implications of the findings for future research and intervention are discussed.     

A Test of the Network Models of Political Priming

Extensive media coverage of a political issue has been shown to influence, or prime, the criteria used to judge overall performance of political leaders. This political priming effect is traditionally explained with network models of memory, which identify priming intensity and recency as key factors in determining the strength and endurance of a priming effect. However, these two assumptions of network models have not been directly tested in media studies. The potential of priming valence to influence the priming effect also has had little treatment. This experiment evaluated priming intensity, recency, and valence within a typical political priming context. In support of previous psychological findings, priming effects were apparent immediately following positively valenced primes, dissipating quickly thereafter. For negative primes, the influence of the prime on judgment formation was contingent on the individual's political leaning, in that individuals who would likely agree with the message exhibited priming effects and individuals who would likely disagree with the message exhibited little effect. The adequacy of applying associative memory models to political priming studies is discussed.     

Persuasive Arguments Theory A Test of Assumptions

Persuasive Arguments Theory (PAT) is a noninteractionl theory of group decision making that predicts decision outcomes from the cognitive arguments individuals generate prior to discussion. PAT proponents do not view discussion as a crucial determinant of decision outcomes, but rather as one possible medium for information exchange. On this view, they assume members’ cognitive arguments correspond to arguments produced in discussion and group influence is a function of these stable structures produced outside interaction. As part of a larger research program undertaken to evaluate PAT, this article assesses PAT assumptions about argument and argument influence. Following a review and critique of PAT, five hypotheses are advanced to test its assumptions. Results revealed little correspondence between cognitive and discussion arguments in number, content, or persuasiveness. Additionally, PAT assumptions about argument influence were not supported. Implications for PAT and for the role of communication in group decision making are discussed.     

Community Psychology, Political Efficacy, and Trust

Much attention has been paid to the effects of political efficacy and trust on political participation. Most studies tend to use efficacy or trust as an independent variable to explain political actions such as voting, campaign involvement, and the like. Despite their importance in explanations of political behavior, relatively little is known regarding mechanisms through which social involvement may influence trust and efficacy. If efficacy and trust are of value, then it is important that we determine how their development can be fostered, and especially whether their development can be promoted through social interaction—such as a sense of community. Borrowing from the field of community psychology, I employ the Sense of Community Index to provide a more nuanced measure of community based on individual perceptions of their community that previous studies were unable to capture. Analyzing original survey data, this paper examines to what extent, if any, a sense of community matters for trust and efficacy. The results demonstrate that social forces, such as community, exert positive and significant effects on internal and external efficacy and personal and political trust, independently of individual traits such as income, age, gender, and education.     

Trust,Distrust, and Feminist Theory

I explore Baier, Held, Okin, Code, Noddings, and Eisler on trust and distrust. This reveals a need for reflection on the analysis, ethics, and dynamics of trust and distrust—especially the distinction between trusting and taking for granted, the feasibility of choosing greater trust, and the possibility of moving from situations of warranted distrust to trust. It is impossible to overcome the need for trust through surveillance, recourse to contracts, or legal institutions.     

Explaining Rigidity and Pragmatism in Political Leaders: A General Theory and a Plausibility Test from the Reagan Presidency

Classic studies of a few extreme, almost pathological cases of rigidity in political leaders (e.g., Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations debacle) have tended to obscure the fact that virtually all leaders alternate between periods of pragmatic flexibility and rigid intransigence in the face of political opposition or unpleasant facts. This study develops a general theoretical framework for explaining rigidity and flexibility in political leaders by extending insights from classic studies of extreme cases to everyday policymaking and by integrating these findings with more recent theoretical and empirical work in political psychology. The plausibility of hypotheses derived from this framework is investigated by examining the conditions associated with pragmatism and rigidity in 15 cases from the presidency of Ronald Reagan. The results are generally consistent with the proposed model, which stresses person-situation interaction and traces rigidity to the arousal of leaders' sources of self-validation in a particular policy context. I conclude by evaluating the implications of this new framework for other areas of theory and research.     

A Test of Objectification Theory in Adolescent Girls

The present study tested the components of the model proposed by Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) in a sample of adolescent girls. Two groups of girls aged between 12 and 16 years (38 girls who currently studied classical ballet, and 45 girls who did not study classical ballet) completed questionnaire measures of self-objectification, body shame, appearance anxiety, and disordered eating. Contrary to prediction, there was no difference between the 2 groups on self-objectification or on any of its proposed consequences. For the total sample, however, the proposed model was largely supported. In particular, body shame and appearance anxiety partially mediated the relationship between self-objectification and disordered eating. It was concluded that Objectification Theory is applicable to adolescents.     

公众政治参与和地方政府信任的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

研究聚焦政府宣传教育,考察公众政治参与和地方政府信任的关系。对2061名有效被试进行问卷调查并分析。结果发现:(1)政治参与显著正向预测地方政府信任;(2)活动有用性评价在政治参与和地方政府信任间起部分中介作用;(3)宣传教育频率负向调节政治参与和有用性评价的关系以及有用性评价的中介效应。上述结果表明,多渠道提升公众政治参与意识,合理把握政府宣传教育频率是促进地方政府信任提高的可选策略。     

A Role for Equity Theory in the Turnover Process: An Empirical Test1

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of equity theory in the context of the contemporary turnover process. A model was developed and tested with 192 hospital employees using structural equation modeling (SEM), which placed satisfaction and intention to quit as mediators of employee turnover. The results strongly support the present model, but also suggest a role for other mediators, some of which are suggested for future research.