Sources of socialization for interpersonal trust: an exploration of low-income Black adolescents’ experiences

ABSTRACT

Much of the literature on interpersonal trust is quantitative in nature, using scales developed primarily with White middle-class and upper-class adults. To understand how another racial group of a different socioeconomic background and age views interpersonal trust, we considered the experiences of 22 low-income Black adolescents. The adolescents participated in a relationship education program and were interviewed about their interpersonal trust experiences. Results of a qualitative data analysis revealed that most adolescents defined interpersonal trust based on honesty and fidelity, with a particular emphasis on monogamy in romantic relationships. Adolescents identified direct messages from family members and personal relationship experiences as sources of socialization for interpersonal trust. Although some adolescents reported that the relationship education program enhanced their understanding of and willingness to trust, others maintained that trust can only be learned through personal experiences. Though the adolescents generally trusted family members, they experienced challenges trusting friends and romantic partners. Despite this, adolescents considered interpersonal trust a vital and a necessary part of romantic relationships. We discuss implications of the findings for relationship stability and satisfaction.

KEYWORDS:

• Interpersonal trust
• adolescents
• qualitative
• low-income
• Black

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by a grant from the University of Georgia Poverty and the Economy Faculty Research Grant Program. This funding source played no role in the study design, collection of data, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the manuscript, or decision to submit this manuscript for publication.