Family, politicians, educators: A new representative study by moneyland.ch shows which individuals and professionals enjoy the highest levels of trust in Swiss society, and which groups Swiss tend to be most skeptical of. Fire fighters are the most trusted professionals in Switzerland. A high 74 percent of the 1500 residents who took part in the survey say that they have strong to very strong trust in fire fighters. That means Swiss have nearly as much trust in fire fighters as in their own family members (78 percent) and friends (76 percent).
Medical professionals – and nurses in particular – also enjoy a high level of trust. 66 percent of participants say they have strong or very strong trust in nurses. Doctors are next in line (64 percent), followed by pharmacists (61 percent).
The population’s trust in pilots (63 percent) and public transportation chauffeurs (57 percent) is also higher than average. Taxi drivers, in contrast, are much less trusted: Only 27 percent of residents strongly or very strongly trust taxi drivers. Another 27 percent of residents have little or no trust in taxi drivers.
Table 1: Trust by profession
| Profession |
Strong or very strong trust |
| Fire fighters |
74% |
| Nurses |
66% |
| Doctors |
64% |
| Pilots |
63% |
| Pharmacists |
61% |
| Train, tram, and bus drivers |
57% |
| Police |
53% |
| Farmers |
52% |
| Cooks |
50% |
| Craftsmen |
49% |
| Scientists |
49% |
| Engineers |
45% |
| Teachers |
45% |
| Judges |
42% |
| University professors |
42% |
| Architects |
36% |
| Federal Council members |
34% |
| Lawyers |
33% |
| Soldiers |
30% |
| Programmers |
29% |
| Taxi drivers |
27% |
| Athletes |
26% |
| Civil servants |
26% |
| Entrepreneurs |
26% |
| Bartenders |
26% |
| Radio show hosts |
24% |
| Journalists |
22% |
| Priests / Pastors |
22% |
| Bankers |
20% |
| TV show hosts |
20% |
| Financial advisors |
18% |
| Insurance consultants |
16% |
| Swiss politicians |
14% |
| Football players |
12% |
| Advertising specialists |
10% |
Swiss are skeptical of advertising specialists
The advertising industry is, by far, the least trusted. 59 percent of survey participants say they have little or no trust in advertising specialists. Only 10 percent of the population has strong or very strong trust in this profession.
After advertising, football players and Swiss politicians are the next least-trusted professionals. Men are much more likely to trust football players. Women are somewhat more skeptical of politicians than men are. While politicians in general do not enjoy a great deal of trust in Switzerland, members of the Federal Council are more likely to be trusted, with 34 percent of residents having strong or very strong trust in them, compare to 14 percent for politicians in general.
Low trust in financial professionals
The financial sector is also fairly low on the trust ranking. Over 40 percent of residents have little or no trust in either insurance consultants, financial advisors, or bankers. Lack of trust in bankers is especially prevalent among male survey participants. Nearly half of men (47 percent) say that they have little or no trust in banking professionals.
But mistrust is lower among young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 years old than it is among older residents. “Young adults have not yet been as strongly turned off to the financial industry,” observes moneyland.ch CEO Benjamin Manz. “That may be because the younger generations of adult residents were hardly involved with the financial crisis of 2008.”
Table 2: Lack of trust by profession
| Profession |
Little or no trust |
| Advertising specialists |
59% |
| Football players |
50% |
| Swiss politicians |
46% |
| Insurance consultants |
46% |
| Priests / Pastors |
45% |
| Financial advisors |
43% |
| Bankers |
42% |
| Journalists |
38% |
| TV show hosts |
36% |
| Radio show hosts |
32% |
| Bartenders |
30% |
| Federal Council members |
29% |
| Civil servants |
28% |
| Athletes |
27% |
| Soldiers |
27% |
| Taxi drivers |
27% |
| Entrepreneurs |
25% |
| Lawyers |
24% |
| Programmers |
20% |
| Judges |
18% |
| University professors |
18% |
| Architects |
17% |
| Police |
16% |
| Teachers |
16% |
| Scientists |
15% |
| Engineers |
14% |
| Farmers |
13% |
| Craftsmen |
13% |
| Cooks |
12% |
| Train, tram, and bus drivers |
11% |
| Pilots |
10% |
| Doctors |
10% |
| Pharmacists |
10% |
| Nurses |
8% |
| Fire fighters |
7% |
The mass media is also low on the trust rankings, with 38 percent of the population – more than one-third – having little or no trust in journalists. Trust in radio and TV show hosts is around as low, although radio hosts rank slightly higher than TV hosts.
Lawyers are popular with women
Women are more likely than average to trust lawyers. More than one-third of women (36 percent) have strong or very strong trust in members of the legal profession, compared to 30 percent of men. Another 30 percent of men have little or no trust in lawyers, compare to just 19 percent of women.
Older people are more likely to trust
A look across age groups reveals that older people tend to trust people more, and younger people tend to trust people less (see table 3). For example, trust in cooks, nurses, and train, tram, and bus drivers among Swiss between the ages of 50 and 74 years old is higher than average.
Table 3: Top 10 most trusted professions by age group
| Profession |
18 to 25 |
26 to 49 |
50 to 74 |
| Fire fighters |
66% |
70% |
83% |
| Nurses |
59% |
62% |
75% |
| Doctors |
65% |
59% |
71% |
| Pilots |
60% |
60% |
67% |
| Pharmacists |
57% |
58% |
67% |
| Train, tram, and bus drivers |
47% |
56% |
64% |
| Police |
45% |
53% |
56% |
| Farmers |
44% |
50% |
58% |
| Cooks |
47% |
49% |
53% |
| Craftsmen |
42% |
46% |
56% |
Swiss between the ages of 26 and 49 are exceptionally mistrusting of the Federal Council. Nearly one-third (32 percent) say they have little or no trust in Federal Council members, compare to 26 percent of adults in other age groups. Residents in the 26-to-49-year-old age bracket are also more likely to be skeptical of politicians in general, but the difference is less pronounced because trust in Swiss politicians is relatively low across the board.
French-speaking Swiss are more trusting
Trust in professionals across nearly all professions is higher among Swiss from the Romandie than among German-speaking Swiss. For example, farmers enjoy far more trust in French-speaking Switzerland, with 60 percent of residents having strong or very strong trust in farmers. In German-speaking Switzerland, less than half of residents (49 percent) strongly trust farmers.
Table 4: Top 10 most-trusted professions by region
| Profession |
German-speaking
Switzerland |
French-speaking
Switzerland |
| Fire fighters |
72% |
79% |
| Nurses |
64% |
74% |
| Doctors |
61% |
73% |
| Pilots |
64% |
60% |
| Pharmacists |
61% |
63% |
| Train, tram, and bus drivers |
55% |
63% |
| Police |
53% |
54% |
| Farmers |
49% |
60% |
| Cooks |
49% |
55% |
| Craftsmen |
47% |
54% |
Trust in journalists, scientists, university professors, and teachers among residents of French-speaking Switzerland is also much higher than the national average. On the other hand, levels of trust in civil servants, police, judges, and politicians are similar across both linguistic regions.
More on this topic:
Get the full study (German PDF)
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