Notes on the Internal Structure of Wrightsman's Measure of Trustworthiness

Abstract

The 14-item Trustworthiness subscale of Wrightsman's Philosophies of Human Nature Scale was interspersed in a larger questionnaire completed by 187 undergraduates The dimensionality of this measure was examined by cluster and factor analyses. The results of cluster analyses based on males, females, and the total sample were similar, and subsequently factor analysis was performed on the total sample. Two 4-item dimensions, designated “Global Morality” and “Specific Acts of Honesty,” were identified by both the cluster and factor analyses of the total sample. Significant sex-differences in mean and/or standard deviation were found for the two dimensions but not for the total score. The Wrightsman measure was reducible to an 8-item short form consisting of the four marker items for each dimension. Implications for the development of an adequate measure of trust are discussed.