Community/Agency Trust: A Measurement Instrument

Many natural resource management agencies invest considerable time and financial resources into building relationships with their constituents. Theoretically, the building of trust produces a relationship that leads to socially acceptable planning and positive management outcomes. Despite the central role trust plays in natural resource management, empirical attempts to measure the construct have been limited. This research note presents the development and validation of a psychometric instrument intended to measure the trust held by local community members living adjacent to managed natural resource areas. The instrument is based in current theory, and exhibits reliable and valid psychometric properties when applied to different study populations. Our intention is to provide an accepted instrument through which knowledge regarding the unique dimensions of community/agency trust, and the entire trust construct as a whole, can be furthered.