This chapter briefly describes the derivation of the affiliative trust–mistrust thematic coding system (McKay, 1988, 1991) and covers research done with it to date. The coding system assesses the strength of two types of sentiments about affiliative relationships: trust and mistrust. People who depict relationships as positive, enjoyable experiences that turn out well score high on the trust subscale. The mistrust subscale, on the other hand, assesses expressions of negativity and cynicism about relationships. Scores on the subscales can be considered independently or combined to form a measure of Trust versus Mistrust.

The trust–mistrust coding system (see chapter 18) was originally developed to measure thoughts and feelings about affiliative relationships (i.e., “object relations”) that are associated with immune function. Object relations may be defined as “the residue within the mind of relationships with important people in the individual's life” (Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983, p. 11). Psychoneuroimmunology studies of the effects of bereavement, divorce, and social supports have shown that one's experiences with affiliation are related to physical health, including immune function. Specifically, good experiences with affiliative relationships tend to be related to better immune function whereas bad or painful experiences are associated with poorer immune function (cf. Bartrop, Lockhurst, Lazarus, Kiloh, & Penny, 1977; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 1987).