Members of Congress and journalists are at the top of a list of figures in society that Americans trust the least, according to a Pew survey.
The survey found 17 percent of U.S. adults believe Congress members behave unethically all or most of the time, and 64 percent believe that they are unethical some of the time.
Journalists are right behind members of Congress for acting unethically "all or most of the time."
Fifteen percent had that opinion. Another 51% said journalists are unethical some of the time.
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Leaders of tech companies were assessed as unethical "all or most of the time" by 12%, but a whopping 65% said they're unethical some of the time.
Religious leaders were considered unethical, some, most or all of the time by 69%, local elected officials 66%, police officers 61%, K-12 principals in public schools 52% and military leaders 50%.
"People invest their trust in institutions and those who have power for a variety of reasons. Researchers have found that people’s confidence in others and organizations can include their judgments about the competence, honesty and benevolence of the organizations or individuals they are assessing, as well as factors such as empathy, openness, integrity and accountability. These perceptions can be seen as building blocks of trust," Pew said.
"Taking account of those insights, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that people offer different judgments about these building blocks of trust when it comes to eight groups of people who hold positions of power and responsibility in America: members of Congress, local elected officials, K-12 public school principals, journalists, military leaders, police officers, leaders of technology companies and religious leaders.
"Notable shares of the public give people in these powerful jobs low ratings when it comes to behaving ethically, dealing with ethical problems in their ranks and admitting mistakes. Half or more of Americans think these influential people act unethically at least some of the time," the report said.
"At the same time, a third or more of Americans think that unethical behavior is treated relatively lightly – that is to say, wrongdoers face serious consequences only a little of the time or less often. Indeed, majorities believe that members of Congress (79 percent), local elected officials (57 percent), leaders of technology companies (55 percent) and journalists (54 percent) admit mistakes and take responsibility for them only a little of the time or none of the time," the report said.
"These views emerge in a survey that covered several dimensions of public confidence in those who hold these positions of power and responsibility. The questions probed public views about several essential aspects of public confidence – such as whether these groups care about people, handle resources responsibly or provide accurate information to the public. Survey respondents were asked to choose whether the group members act in these ways 'all or most of the time,' 'some of the time,' 'only a little of the time' or 'none of the time.'"
When asked if they have confidence in leaders to care for "people like me," tech leaders were at the bottom, with 48%, followed by Congress, with 50% and journalists with 53%.
On the question of how well they do their job, 90% said military leaders do a good job preparing and protecting the country. But only 47% percent say Congress does a good job promoting laws that protect the public.
Journalists ranked only slightly higher than that for reporting important news that serves the public.
Nearly 11,000 people were questioned in the survey, which was conducted Nov. 28 to Dec. 10, 2018.
The survey also found Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party "are less likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to believe journalists perform key parts of their jobs 'all or most of the time' or 'some of the time.'"
"For instance, three-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners (31 percent) believe journalists fairly cover all sides of an issue at least some of the time, while about three-quarters of Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic party (74 percent) say the same – a 43-percentage-point difference in opinion between the two groups."