Toetustest

Toetustest is a term used in Dutch-language discourse to describe the systematic assessment of trust in a person, system, or process. It encompasses methods for evaluating how much users are willing to rely on an entity and how confident they are in its performance under uncertainty. The concept draws on theories of trust from psychology, sociology, and human-computer interaction, and is often applied to analyze interactions with automated systems, online platforms, and medical devices.

Definition and scope: Toetustest covers both dispositional or general trust and situational trust that arises during a specific task. A toetustest typically seeks to quantify perceived trustworthiness, predict behavior such as reliance, disclosure of information, or repeated use, and identify factors that influence trust, including transparency, competence, benevolence, and user control.

Methodology: Typical designs combine self-report questionnaires with behavioral measures and experimental manipulations. Common approaches include interventions that affect perceived transparency, reliability manipulations, and scenario-based tasks. Analyses examine correlations between trust measures and outcomes such as performance, safety, or user satisfaction.

Applications: In technology assessment, toetustest informs the design of AI systems, autonomous vehicles, digital health tools, and customer-facing software. It supports risk assessment, regulatory compliance, and ethical considerations by highlighting where trust may degrade or break down.

Limitations and debates: Trust is multifaceted and context-dependent; measurement challenges include the use of hypothetical scenarios, social desirability bias, and cross-cultural validity. Some scholars argue that trust should be distinguished from reliance and perceived risk, while others propose integrated models that combine multiple dimensions.

See also: Trust in automation, human–computer interaction, user experience, risk perception.