THE GLOBAL TRUSTWORTHINESS INDEX

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While compiling yesterday's diatribe against estate agents (see WHY I DISTRUST ESTATE AGENTS), I came across an interesting survey about the least and most trusted professions.

Since 2018, Ipsos, a global market research, public opinion polling and consultancy company based in Paris, publishes an annual Global Trustworthiness Index measuring people's trust of different professions. The index is based on a survey of of well over 20,000 people drawn from over 30 countries. It's a big survey!

Last year's Global Trustworthiness Index came up with the following rankings:

1. Doctors - 58 per cent trustworthy (16 per cent untrustworthy)
2. Scientists - 56 per cent trustworthy (15 per cent untrustworthy)
3. Teachers - 54 per cent trustworthy (16 per cent untrustworthy)
4. Restaurant waiters/waitresses - 44 per cent trustworthy (16 per cent untrustworthy)
5. Members of the armed forces - 43 per cent trustworthy (23 per cent untrustworthy)
6. Police officers - 38 per cent trustworthy (30 per cent untrustworthy)
7. Ordinary men/women - 38 per cent trustworthy (17 per cent untrustworthy)
8. Judges - 38 per cent trustworthy (30 per cent untrustworthy)
9. Lawyers - 31 per cent trustworthy (30 per cent untrustworthy)
10. Television news anchors/presenters - 30 per cent trustworthy (32 per cent untrustworthy)
11. Pollsters - 29 per cent trustworthy (27 per cent untrustworthy)
12. Clergy members/priests - 29 per cent trustworthy (38 per cent untrustworthy)
13. Taxi drivers - 28 per cent trustworthy (28 per cent untrustworthy)
14. Government employees/civil servants - 28 per cent trustworthy (32 per cent untrustworthy)
15. Journalists - 27 per cent trustworthy (35 per cent untrustworthy)
16. Bankers - 27 per cent trustworthy (35 per cent untrustworthy)
17. Business leaders - 26 per cent trustworthy (31 per cent untrustworthy)
18. Cabinet officials/government ministers - 20 per cent trustworthy (50 per cent untrustworthy)
19. Advertising executives - 19 per cent trustworthy (40 per cent untrustworthy)
20. Social media influencers - 15 per cent trustworthy (56 per cent untrustworthy)
21. Politicians - 15 per cent trustworthy (58 per cent untrustworthy)

Ipsos also found that Indonesians, Indians and Filipinos were the most trusting of professions, whereas Peruvians, Poles and Chileans were the least trusting.

Ipsos' results don't particularly surprise me, though I'm slightly surprised that 15 per cent of respondents trusted politicians. I thought that figure would be much lower. Also, I'm a little surprised that members of the clergy came only midway in the trusted professions index, perhaps the sample was skewed towards atheists and agnostics!

It's a shame that the survey didn't include other professions/occupations like accountants, actors/actresses, architects, builders, car mechanics, carpenters/joiners, charity workers, comedians, counsellors, customer support staff, dentists, economists, electricians, engineers, fashion designers, gardeners, information technology geeks, insurance brokers, historians, librarians, lobbyists, management consultants, marketing and sales executives, museum curators, musicians, novelists, nurses, photographers, pilots, plumbers, podcasters, poets, retail workers, social workers, spies and trade union officials.

What professions/occupations do you most trust and least trust?

Generally I'm quite trustworthy of professions, especially doctors, teachers, scientists and nurses. I'm probably far more trusting of politicians than most - someone has to do their job of eating shit!

My least trusted profession, by a country mile, are estate agents. Perhaps Ipsos didn't include estate agents (real estate agents/realtors) in its Global Trustworthiness Index survey because they aren't professional!

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