Cultural Mistrust and Social Media Relationships

This study sought to examine the suitability of the Cultural Mistrust Inventory (CMI) items for contemporary interracial social relationships on social media. The study employed qualitative cognitive interviews with 28 persons of color in the U.S. Findings suggest that the CMI may not be a suitable measure for accurately assessing relational trust across different racial groups on social media due to generational change in consciousness about race relations, and the perceived ambiguity of the CMI items. Findings also reveal that the CMI is limited in its ability to assess racial trust on social media and may not account for how trust manifests across different social media platforms. These findings suggest that the continued use of the CMI to assess contemporary interracial relationships is not recommended.