Does Measuring Trust in Groups Also Measure Distrust? It Depends

Abstract

Trust and distrust are important factors influencing the success or failure of natural resource management, yet the relationship between them is unclear. Using questionnaires and interviews with 53 knowledgeable stakeholders of Oregon’s marine reserve system, we explored whether measuring trust and distrust generated similar results and how interviewees arrived at trust and distrust ratings. Paired trust-distrust ratings across eight trust targets supported a hypothesized difference in mean trust and reverse-coded distrust. However, qualitative findings provided evidence that interviewees relied on multiple conceptualizations of the relationship between trust and distrust and uncovered three critical issues. At times, trust and distrust ratings referred to different actions, individuals, and word meanings. We discuss how the relationship between trust and distrust may depend on who is asked and how they interpret the questions. However, we also note that the operationalization in this study presents a major limitation that could be overcome in future studies.

Keywords:

• Distrust
• marine protected areas
• mixed methods
• natural resource management
• trust

Acknowledgments

Thank you to our study participants, who volunteered to share their insights with us. Thanks to Mark Needham for permission to reproduce his map. Thanks to Ian Munanura, Carrie Pomeroy, Selina Heppell, and Mark Needham for input on study design, and Kim Barchard for data interpretation feedback. Additionally, thanks to the reviewers and editor for their productive feedback.