Americans Generally More Trusting than the British - Except for Newscasters

By Humphrey Taylor - 11th November 1998

Who do we trust the most to tell the truth? Teachers, clergy, doctors, scientists and judges.

Who do we trust the least? Trade union leaders, journalists, TV newscasters and members of Congress.

When Americans are asked whether or not they would generally trust a list of people in different professions and occupations, the largest numbers say they generally trust teachers (86%), clergymen or priests (85%), doctors (83%), scientists (79%) and judges (79%). These are closely followed by professors (77%) and police officers (75%).

Almost a many people (71%) say that they would generally trust ordinary men and women to tell the truth. A 70% majority ay they would generally trust civil servants to tell the truth.

At the other end of the spectrum, majorities say they would generally not trust trade union leaders (58%), journalists (52%), TV newscasters (52%) or members of the Congress (51%) to tell the truth.

In spite of the fact that President Clinton has admitted to lying to the American people about Monica Lewinsky, a modest 54% to 44% majority of adults would generally trust him to tell the truth.

The Harris Poll used virtually identical questions to those asked last year in a survey in Britain conducted by MORI. The results show that in general Americans are more trusting than the British, who are more likely to say they would not trust most of these occupations. The one huge exception is TV newscasters (known as newsreaders in Britain). In the U.S. only 44% of adults say they would generally believe them; in the U.K. fully 74% say they generally trust newsreaders to tell them the truth. However, Americans are much more likely to trust civil servants (70% v 36% in the U.K.), journalists (43% V 15%), business leaders (43% v 29%), scientists (79% v 63%) and ordinary men and women (71% v 56%).

Pollsters have more or less the same credibility as the President; a 55% to 38% majority say they would generally trust what we report. Things could be worse I suppose, but to be trusted only as much as a president who faces possible impeachment for perjury is not exactly a resounding vote of confidence. We pollsters must do better than this.

Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman of Louis Harris & Associates, Inc