ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on trust in physicians/doctors and nurses because of its prevalence in psychological research, although there is a broader domain of medical trust that is important in its own right. Similar relations between adults’ trust and some health-related measures have been found in studies employing other scales to assess adults’ trust beliefs in physicians. The chapter reviews the research showing that generalised trust, trust in health professionals, and trust in romantic partners are associated with health. Research has shown that the individuals who hold low generalised trust in others tend have shorter lives. A number of studies show that adults’ trust beliefs in physicians are associated with successful medical treatment. It was found that trust in a romantic partner longitudinally predicted self-reported health and the findings supported the conclusion that trust in marriage partners is a probable cause of health.
