Differentiated trust
Navigating credibility landscapes in community-engaged research
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22072089 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steven L Arxer (0000-0003-2444-7352, The University of Texas at Arlington, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 1846231-1846231 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1846231 |
| PMID | 42232957 |
| OpenAlex | W7161537423 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
Community-engaged research (CEnR) depends on mutual credibility between researchers and communities, yet the trust environment in which these collaborations operate has shifted as public confidence becomes more conditional and politically structured. Drawing on scholarship in the sociology of trust, epistemic injustice, and related fields, this paper applies the concept of differentiated trust to community-engaged research. Differentiated trust describes a pattern in which people grant credibility selectively across knowledge authorities based on institutional experience, political identity, and information environment. Differentiated trust asks a related question about how credibility has already been sorted among competing authorities before the collaboration begins. The paper examines how differentiated trust illuminates the role of epistemic trust, epistemic injustice, and identity work in contexts where communities are navigating competing authorities on the health topics research addresses. The paper argues that attending to differentiated trust can sharpen the practical relevance of these concepts for CEnR design and evaluation
Credibility · Politics · Public trust · Scholarship · Community Health and Development · Health Policy Implementation Science · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
Power Dynamics in Community-Based Participatory Research
Uncovering the Benefits of Participatory Research
Partnerships, Processes, and Outcomes
The Value and Challenges of Participatory Research
The effectiveness of community engagement in public health interventions for disadvantaged groups
Exploring the Multidimensionality of Trust in Participatory Health Partnerships - A Network Approach
Engage for Equity
Engage for Equity
Rapidly diverging public trust in science in the United States
The Epistemology of Resistance
The Bidirectional Engagement and Equity (BEE) Research Framework to Guide Community–Academic Partnerships
Continuum of Trauma
Enhancing Trust in Science
A realist evaluation of community-based participatory research
Achieving practical trust in the context of interpersonal vulnerability
The Continuum of Community Engagement in Research
Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing
From “Water Boiling in a Peruvian Town” to “Letting them Die”
Building and Maintaining Trust in a Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership
Community Engagement
Identities in and around organizations
Perceived Health Misinformation on Social Media and Public Trust in Health Care
Whose health? Whose truth? Navigating the “Make America Healthy Again” – public health divide
Three forms of trust and their association
Spheres of trust
Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries
Misinformation, trust, and health
Reflections on Researcher Identity and Power
Trust Working in Interpersonal Relationships
Identity Work Among the Homeless
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |