The 2025 Trust Barometer

I've been doing a lot of reading on the concept of trust lately.  For the last twenty-five years or so, the global communication firm Edelman has published an annual "trust barometer" that is freely available on their website.  The 2025 version is entitled "Trust and the Crisis of Grievance".  Richard Edelman, CEO of the company summarized this year's "trust barometer" as a "descent into grievance."  Over the years, Edelman and his team have witnessed "a progression from fears to polarization and now into grievance."  They believe that "grievance stems from a conviction that the system is unfair, business and government make things worse, not better, and the rich keep getting richer."

For the last 25 years, world events have put trust under significant pressure.  The widespread protests in Seattle, Washington against globalization in general and more specifically against the World Trade Organization in 1999 (the "Battle of Seattle") actually inspired Edelman to publish their first "trust barometer".  At that time, non-government organizations (NGOs) were found to be the most trusted institution.  Trust in government declined significantly in 2003, largely in response to the U.S. war in Iraq.  The wave of populism that powered Brexit and the election of several populist leaders around the world led to a significant decline in trust in media in the 2016 trust barometer.  Certainly the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a greater declines in trust in government and NGOs.  More concerning, the COVID-19 pandemic created mistrust in science and medicine.  Greater polarization led to further declines in trust, which directly resulted in the "descent into grievance" that characterizes our world today.

The 2025 Trust Barometer reported survey findings from more than 33,000 respondents from 28 countries around the world.  Key findings from the survey include:

1. Nearly 2/3 of respondents have a moderate or high sense of grievance, which is defined by a belief that government and business serve a narrow interest (principally the wealthy) and make their lives harder.  Those individuals with a high sense of grievance do not trust any of the four institutions (business, government, media, and NGOs).

2. Fear of discrimination is widespread, with nearly 2/3 of respondents expressing concern about experiencing prejudice, discrimination, or racism in the last year (up by 10 percentage points compared to last year's survey).

3.  Fear that leaders lie is at an all-time high, with a majority of respondents agreeing with the statement that leaders in government, business, and the media purposely mislead people by saying things that they know are false or gross exaggerations.

4. Only 36% of respondents expressed optimism for the next generation, believing that things will be better for the next generation than the current one.  For example, many feel that their job security is threatened by globalization, a looming recession, and automation or artificial intelligence.  

5. Those respondents in the bottom income quartile trust business, government, media, and NGOs the least.  While this is not necessarily surprising, nearly 4 in 10 of the respondents in this quartile would approve of one or more of the following actions: attacking people online, intentionally spreading disinformation, threatening or even committing violence, or damaging public or private property.

These findings should be concerning to all of us, not just those in positions of leadership.  What is clear is that the solution to this problem (dare I say, wicked problem?) is going to take a united effort from all of us, not just our leaders in government.  The report concludes with the statement, "When institutions can't be trusted to do what is right, grievances fester and outlooks darken.  To dissipate grievance and increase optimism, prioritize and rebuild trust across your organization and local communities."  How to do that exactly remains far from clear...