Generalized Social Trust (WVS single item)
Psychology: Values & BeliefsReliability: single item1 sample item
About this scale
A single-item measure used in the World Values Survey: 'Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people?' Trust = 1, Can't be too careful = 0. Foundational social-capital indicator.
Sample item(s)
“Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people? (Most people can be trusted / Can't be too careful)”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: single item. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Single-item; used in dozens of cross-national studies.
Source & citation
World Values Survey Association (2020): World Values Survey Wave 7 official questionnaire. Madrid: WVS Association.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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