A Three-Domain Framework for Trust in Digitally Mediated Social Life
Abstract
Digital technologies increasingly mediate information access, social interaction, and institutional participation, raising the question of how trust in digital systems is organized in relation to trust in people and institutions. Across three independent samples of Chinese young adults, we tested a three-domain framework of trust in digitally mediated social life and developed a concise measure distinguishing interpersonal trust, institutional/rule trust, and digital system trust. Study 1 (N = 1,495) identified a three-factor structure using parallel analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Study 2 (N = 1,333) confirmed this structure: the three-factor model outperformed a unidimensional model and all pairwise-collapsed two-factor alternatives, although the three domains remained strongly correlated. Study 3 (N = 901) provided evidence consistent with measurement invariance across gender and initial nomological differentiation. Learning-oriented digital engagement was more strongly associated with institutional/rule and digital system trust, everyday/relational engagement with interpersonal and digital system trust, and digital information judgment with institutional/rule trust. Sensitivity analyses reproduced the primary patterns. Together, the findings support a three-domain framework in which digital system trust is strongly interconnected with, but not reducible to, trust in people or institutional arrangements.
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BibTeX
@misc{jia2026threedomain,
title = {{A Three-Domain Framework for Trust in Digitally Mediated Social Life}},
author = {Chenglong Jia and YUAN SHEN and Ke Shen and Jinliang Qin},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/xjhmy_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/xjhmy_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A Three-Domain Framework for Trust in Digitally Mediated Social Life
AU - Chenglong Jia
AU - YUAN SHEN
AU - Ke Shen
AU - Jinliang Qin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/xjhmy_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/xjhmy_v1/
AB - Digital technologies increasingly mediate information access, social interaction, and institutional participation, raising the question of how trust in digital systems is organized in relation to trust in people and institutions. Across three independent samples of Chinese young adults, we tested a three-domain framework of trust in digitally mediated social life and developed a concise measure distinguishing interpersonal trust, institutional/rule trust, and digital system trust. Study 1 (N = 1,495) identified a three-factor structure using parallel analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Study 2 (N = 1,333) confirmed this structure: the three-factor model outperformed a unidimensional model and all pairwise-collapsed two-factor alternatives, although the three domains remained strongly correlated. Study 3 (N = 901) provided evidence consistent with measurement invariance across gender and initial nomological differentiation. Learning-oriented digital engagement was more strongly associated with institutional/rule and digital system trust, everyday/relational engagement with interpersonal and digital system trust, and digital information judgment with institutional/rule trust. Sensitivity analyses reproduced the primary patterns. Together, the findings support a three-domain framework in which digital system trust is strongly interconnected with, but not reducible to, trust in people or institutional arrangements.
ER -