Chapter 5: The Conceptualization And Measurement Of Faculty Trust In Schools: The Omnibus T-Scale¹

Trust is a critical ingredient of all human learning (Rotter, 1967), one that is especially important in schools where learning is the central mission. Moreover, trust is crucial in facilitating cooperation (Deutsch, 1958; Tschannen-Moran, 2001), in developing open school cultures (Hoffman, Sabo, Bliss, & Hoy, 1994), in promoting group cohesiveness (Zand, 1971, 1997), in school leadership (Sergiovanni, 1992), in student achievement (Goddard, Tschannen-Moran, & Hoy, 2001 ; Hoy, in press), and in increasing the quality of schooling (Hoy & Sabo, 1998).

Although trust has long been the subject of philosophers and politicians, the systematic investigation of trust by social scientists is of more recent vintage. In the late 1950s, the impetus for the empirical study of trust came from the escalating suspicion of the Cold War and optimism that science could provide answers to the dangerous and costly arms race (Deutsch, 1958). In the late 1960s, in response to a generation of young people who had become disillusioned with established institutions and authority, the study of trust shifted to individual personality traits (Rotter, 1967). In the 1980s, with soaring divorce rates and radical changes in the American family, research on trust next turned to interpersonal relationships (Johnson-George & Swap, 1982; Larzelere & Huston, 1980; Rempel, Holmes, & Zanna, 1985). In the 1990s, with shifts in technology and society, trust continues as a subject of study in sociology (Coleman, 1990), in economics (Fukuyama, 1995) and in organizational science (Gambetta, 1988; Kramer & Tyler, 1996; Shaw, 1997). Thus, it should not be surprising that the nature and meaning of trust in schools has recently taken on added importance.