(Bloomberg) -- People across the world are becoming ever warier of governments and institutions as geopolitical tensions fuel nationalism and economic anxieties mount, according to communications firm Edelman.
“Distrust is the new default instinct,” said Richard Edelman, chief executive officer of the namesake company, describing the results of its annual survey released on Monday in advance of this week’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
The poll conducted Oct. 23-Nov. 18 tapped 37,500 respondents in 28 countries, and identified an erosion of confidence in institutions and their leaders that leaves people seeking reassurance within their workplaces.
Employers emerge in the poll as the most credible brokers of trust, and the office as the safest space to discuss challenges related to artificial intelligence, globalization or economic livelihoods. That’s because there are rules for behavior there that don’t exist outside, Edelman said.
It’s in businesses’ best interests to live up to that task, he argued, because detachment and narrow-mindedness can affect the bottom-line.
Seventy percent of respondents said they are unwilling to trust someone with different values, information, life experiences, or backgrounds. About 42% would rather switch departments than work for such a person, while a third would make less of an effort if someone leading a project didn’t share their beliefs.
“We opt for the safety of the familiar over the perceived risk of innovation,” said Edelman. “We prefer nationalism to global connection; we choose individual benefit over common advancement, the Me over the We.”
His survey found that a majority of low-income workers fear being left behind by the AI revolution. Concerns about the damage caused by trade disputes and recession-related job losses hit an all-time high, and less than a third of respondents believe the next generation will be better off.
“Fears of inflation, potential job loss to AI and concerns about disinformation are now the most corrosive factors undermining trust,” said Edelman. “Our mindset has shifted from alarm to anger to sullen acquiescence and insularity.”
Overall faith in governments, business leaders and the media changed little over the past year. France, in the throes of a political crisis since mid-2024, recorded the largest drop, while confidence increased most in Nigeria and the UAE. Those two countries recently concluded an economic partnership agreement that will deepen trade ties.
The annual meetings in the Swiss resort of Davos kick off on Monday. The WEF’s own risk report, published last week, identified “geoeconomic confrontation” and “state-based armed conflict” as the two biggest concerns among experts it polled.
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