Americans' faith in most professions dwindles: Gallup
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Americans have consistently viewed medical workers, K-12 teachers and military officers as the most ethical professions — but even their ratings have dropped considerably, new Gallup polling shows.
Why it matters: Americans' opinion of the ethics of various professions has stalled at its lowest point — reflective of declining confidence in U.S. institutions overall.
- "Americans interact with numerous professionals in their daily lives, while depending on others they've never met to maintain an efficient, fair and secure society," per the annual survey data, released Monday.
- "Whether reflecting personal experience or secondhand reports, Americans' sense of how much they can trust each profession varies widely, likely influencing how they engage with each."
The big picture: The average honesty and ethics ratings for 11 core professions was 30% in Monday's report, down from 40% in 2005.
- Three professions had "majority negative" ratings: — TV reporters, members of Congress and lobbyists.
- Those were followed by roles including advertising practitioners, car salespeople, business executives and state officeholders.
- Day care providers, funeral directors, police officers and auto mechanics enjoyed "net positive" ratings.
The intrigue: Three of the five professions with "majority positive" ratings were in medical fields, but nursing home operators had "net negative" ratings.
- Despite being among the highest in the list, trust in medical doctors and pharmacists has dropped below pre-pandemic levels.
- Polling released last year separately showed that more people are trusting in their own ability to assess health information or turning to friends for guidance amid lack of trust in public health agencies.
- Grade school teachers also received "majority positive ratings," but Americans have expressed growing dissatisfaction with K-12 education.
Zoom in: Trust in judges and clergy have fallen the most, long-term, although ratings were still net positive for both.
- Trust in judges reached a low of 28% in the honesty and ethics rating, a 21-point decrease since the early 2000s.
- Public approval of the Supreme Court nearly reached a record low after the court concluded its most recent term, per previous Gallup polling. Approval plunged in particular among Democrats as the high court's rulings have leaned conservative.
- Meanwhile, every age group has seen declines in religious affiliations during the past decade.
State of play: U.S. trust in mass media hit a historic low last year, and Monday's report echoes low ratings of TV and newspaper reporters.
- 55% of respondents rated TV reporters as having "majority negative" honesty and ethical standards, a nine percentage point drop since the early 2000s.
- 45% said the same of newspaper reporters, which have had consistently low ratings over the years.
Flashback: Nurses have earned the highest rating every year but one since they were added to the survey in 1999.
- "The exception was 2001, when firefighters — included only that year — earned a record 90% trust rating after their heroism in responding to the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers," the report said.
Go deeper: Media trust hits another historic low
Methodology: Telephone interviews were conducted Dec. 2-18 with a random sample of 1,003 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
