A new perspective on trust in marital relationships: how trust in specific areas of the relationship relates to marital satisfaction and attachment style

Trust is a multifaceted construct, one that may not be useful unless attending to the complex and unique aspects of the given individuals and their relationship. Current conceptualizations of trust are limited to a single dimension, the dimension of depth (i.e., how much global trust a person has). The goal of this dissertation was to expand the conceptualization of trust by exploring the dimension of breadth.

For the purposes of the study, the Trust in Specific Areas Scale (TSAS) was created. The TSAS is an 11-item scale that assesses an individual's level of trust in 11 important areas of the relationship (Sager, 1981). A panel of experts reviewed the items as to their content validity and a pilot-test of the TSAS provided preliminary support for its internal consistency.