Abstract

Trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectations that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party. Although many factors contribute to the quality of a relationship, few have the impact of trust. This prospectus examines the relation between six variables associated with trust and how positively manipulating them increases trust levels between the media and military public affairs. Research involving trust was done on the interpersonal and organizational level.
By designing a Likert-type survey, trust can be examined in four categories. The first situation involves policy changes. Planned military operations constitute the second area. Emergency situations are also studied. Finally, random events are reviewed. These distinct circumstances provide a solid context through which military public affairs specialists can measure trust levels in the media. Although the prospectus is speculative, it will provide valuable information for improving the manner in which military public affairs interacts with the media and the efficiency with how they disseminate their information. In the future, longitudinal research encompassing more extensive periods of time is required to better understand the dynamics of trust.