For the first time, Democrats trust businesses more than Republicans, according to a new study.
The Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust in business has fallen below 50% among Republicans for the first time at 48%. A clear majority of Democrats, 55%, now have trust in business.
The trend reflected a wider trend in trust and distrust in institutions; a majority of Democrats were found to trust the four major institutions presented — business, nongovernmental organizations, government, and media. A majority of Republicans were found to distrust the same four.
WOKE CAPITAL IS CHANGING HOW REPUBLICANS VIEW BANKS, CORPORATIONS, AND TECH
The percentage of Democrats who trust institutions varied by topic. It typically hovered around 53%-57% — the most trusted category was NGOs, and the least trusted category was government. Most stats were more or less static from last year for Democrats, but trust in government shot up 6 points, putting every institution in the positive range of trust. Media saw a slight decline of 5 points from last year.
Trust for institutions among Republicans varied widely. It ranged from 24% to 48%. Trust in every institution has plummeted by double digits since last year — the largest decrease being in government, at a decline of 20 points to 29%. Media was the least trusted among Republicans at just 24%, while the most trusted, business, was only 48%.
The average institutional trust among Democrats was 55%. Among Republicans, it was 20 points lower at 35%.
Perhaps the most surprising statistic was the 12-point decline in trust in business by Republicans, traditionally considered the party friendly to business, while Democrats, traditionally more skeptical of business, have a much more positive outlook. The finding is likely the result of an increasing perception from Republicans that big businesses are adopting “woke” policies. That’s also likely the reason for the positive view from Democrats.
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The study polled over 36,000 people across 28 different countries, and it averaged over 1,150 respondents per country.
