Trust in military leader: Scale development and validation

The purpose of this study was to develop an original Trust in Military Leader Scale that can be used in Turkish military context. To this end, we first reviewed the literature to develop a conceptual framework. Next, an item pool was formed and afterwards, an initial scale was formed and evaluated. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 124 officers and noncommissioned officers for item generation. The pilot study involved 2,731 and the final study involved 2,308 participants, all of whom were military personnel. Data obtained through quantitative and qualitative methods were analyzed using such techniques as content analysis, descriptive analysis, consistency analysis, correlational analysis, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis yielded an 18-item scale with 4 factors: competence, benevolence, integrity, and fairness. In the next phase, the scale was analyzed with respect to content, criterion, and construct validity. To test predictive validity, the scale was used to find how much trust in military leader predicted organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, a valid and reliable scale that can be used in measuring subordinates' trust in the military leader was developed.