Ipsos, a global market research and analytics company, has released its findings from its Trustworthiness Index 2024 on Most Trusted Professions, a 32 country Ipsos Global Advisor survey wherein urban Indians have rated doctors (57%), members of the armed forces (56%) and teachers (56%) as the most trustworthy professions of 2024, meaning largely all the frontline public service workers have topped the list.
As per the company’s latest findings, these professions stepped up during Covid19 and continue to serve the society, putting in long hours, even going beyond the call of duty.
But apart from these, some of the other professions where the Indian citizens have placed their trust more include that of scientists (54%), judges (52%), bankers (50%), ordinary men and women (49%), the police (47%), and the serving staff at the restaurant (47%), taxi drivers (46%), govt employees/ civil servants (46%), business leaders (44%), advertising execs (44%), pollsters (45%), TV news anchors/ TV news readers (44%), lawyers (43%), journalists (43%) etc.
For this particular survey report, Ipsos interviewed 23,530 adults online in 32 countries between May 24 and June 7, 2024, with sample size comprising approximately 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Türkiye.
That being said, the sample in India consisted of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online.
For global citizens their top three most trusted professions were doctors (58%), scientists (56%) and teachers (54%) as they were the ones that stepped up the most during the pandemic- scientists who made the vaccines, doctors who put their lives at risk to treat patients and teachers who taught remotely.
That being said, topping the list for untrustworthy professions in India were politicians (31%), cabinet officials/ govt ministers (28%) and clergy/ priests (27%). And barring India – where social media influencers were not covered – in other global markets they were among most untrustworthy professions – in Sweden (71%), Belgium (70%), France (70%), Netherlands (69%), New Zealand (67%), Spain (65%), Turkey (65%) etc.
Global distrust list of professions included politicians (58%), social media influencers (56%), cabinet officials/ govt ministers (50%), advertising execs (40%) among others.
Elucidating on the findings of the survey, Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India, said, “Trust is built overtime and through experience and/ or perception. Indians have reposed their faith in doctors, armed forces personnel and teachers the most. These professions have exemplary ethical standards and tend to stretch if work demands, going beyond the call of duty with sincerity. During the pandemic, when the entire country was in a shutdown/ lock down scenario, doctors continued to treat patients, even at the cost of personal risk, even taking a toll on them; armed forces personnel continued to man our borders and being on duty elsewhere in the country; teachers were taking online classes ensuring students do not lose a year. These professions have a strong level of transparency and commitment, infusing trust among citizens, built overtime and command respect – both in perception and reality. The society looks up to them as role models and mentors.”
“In India, politicians, govt ministers, priests/ clergy are least trusted due to some cases where officials have come under the scanner for corruption – and this perception continues to stick even when governments and departments have taken measures like digital payments directly to bank accounts to offset corruption, acted on godmen with tainted images. It’s still work in progress to clean up the system,” added Adarkar.
