How Values Guide Trust: The Multiple Roles of Science-Related Value Predispositions in Shaping Trustworthiness and Trust in Scientific Authorities

Guided by literature suggesting that value similarity shapes trust in scientific authorities managing technological risks, we examined how science-related values affect trust formation. Our experiment found that individual value orientations moderated the effects of scientific authorities’ value displays. They also affected how people weigh ability, benevolence, and integrity to establish trust. Individuals with high deference to scientific authority judged power-oriented authorities more favorably and drew less on benevolence and integrity dimensions than did those low in deference. Those with higher technocratic beliefs rated universalism-oriented authorities as higher in benevolence and weighted this dimension more heavily in trust judgments.