Developing an assessment of epistemic trust: a research protocol

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Epistemic trust (ET) is crucial for accepting information as trustworthy.
• A deficit in ET may underlie personality disorders.
• Empirical validation of individual differences in ET is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an Epistemic Trust Assessment (ETA).
• To operationalize and empirically test individual differences in ET.
• To provide a framework for investigating the link between ET and personality functioning.

Main Methods:

• Development of an app-based Epistemic Trust Questionnaire (ETQ).
• Validation study with 60 university students under induced stress (Trier Social Stress Test for Groups).
• Assessment of ET by tracking judgment revisions based on expert feedback, controlling for social desirability and personality traits.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory Factor Analysis will assess the ETQ's structure and dimensionality.
• ANOVAs will examine mean differences in ET scores.
• The study operationalizes a novel ET paradigm for future research.

Conclusions:

• This research provides the first empirical operationalization of individual differences in epistemic trust.
• The developed ETQ and validation protocol offer a framework for future studies on ET and personality.
• Findings may advance understanding of the role of ET in personality disorders.