The FINANCIAL — According to a recent survey by The FINANCIAL, politicians are the least trustworthy professionals in Georgia in contrast to doctors who hold the majority of people’s trust.
The FINANCIAL — According to a recent survey by The FINANCIAL, politicians are the least trustworthy professionals in Georgia in contrast to doctors who hold the majority of people’s trust.
The survey’s results show that of around 200 respondents, 47% distrust politicians the most. The other least trustworthy professionals are: car mechanic, realtor, journalist, builder and PR manager.
Doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, police officers and pilots are the most trusted professionals. 41% of poll respondents said that they trust doctors the most, followed by pharmacists with 20%, lawyers – 12%, pilots – 10%, and police officers – 10%.
“The list of professions includes jobs involving the service sector. Service sector personnel generate such attitudes and estimations from having direct contact with consumers. Positive opinions of professions are largely determined by the match of the demand and supply of people’s expectations,” said Temur Kuprava, Professor at FreeUniversity Georgia.
“It is clear why respondents trust politicians, realtors and car mechanics the least. They work in professions that tend to generate nothing but lies, thus they do not generally inspire people’s confidence,” Kuprava said.
“The popularity and reliability of various professions is significantly influenced by the social and political conditions of the country. However there are a number of professions that do not lose credibility regardless of the political or economic environment. Such professionals include health sector workers and lawyers,” Eka Machavariani, HR expert, told The FINANCIAL.
Machavariani said that although we have witnessed many cases of mistakes made by those in the medical sphere, the profession has never lost its relevance or dependability. “The professions of doctor and lawyer concern another phenomenon. People apply to doctors and attorneys for aid at times when their health, fortune, social standing etc are in danger and they are themselves powerless to fix things. These two professions are specific but complicated. Doctors and lawyers are professionals whom people apply to as a last resort. Accordingly, these two occupations will always maintain a certain level of popularity in society,” she said.
“As for the profession of pharmacist, I think that this profession has become considerably more popular in recent times. Particularly since the expansion of pharmacy chains, increasing number of local pharmacy branches and in most cases quite well-trained drugstore workers,” Machavariani added.
She said that pharmacists are actively involved in suggesting and recommending various medicaments without the need for a doctor’s prescription. Therefore it has become very convenient for people to essentially self-medicate, by visiting their pharmacist and getting a recommendation from them rather than visiting their doctor’s office.
“Politicians speak in vague generalities and half-truths, and they often soften their stances on issues once they get elected to high office. Worse, some of them say such hateful or stupid or just plain inaccurate things that they threaten to derail the whole system,” said Giorgi, 29.
“The level of people’s distrust towards realtors and car mechanics is due to specific aspects of their professions. Realtors often exceed the selling prices of property. As for mechanics, they are associated with the over-diagnosing of a vehicle’s problems and therefore wasting a client’s time and money,” Machavariani said.
Artist, musician, teacher, hairdresser, police officer and call centre operator were the other professionals named as most trusted by respondents.
“There are good and bad professionals in every occupation that we come in to contact with on a daily basis. However for me realtors are people that I could never trust. Both good and bad realtors will lie to you for certain. Police officers are among those whom I can trust the most though. I have some contact with people involved in this sector and I know how hard officers work and how devoted to their work they are,” explained Nina, 31.
One of the respondents, Levan, 35, said that call centre operators are the most dependable professionals in his opinion. “You always know that the information they deliver is accurate. And if they do not know something, they admit it rather than lie.”
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