IN SEARCH OF TRUST: VCIOM: Russia Public Opinion Research Center

IN SEARCH OF TRUST

Interpersonal trust is steadily rising in the Russian society.

11.01.2024

IN BRIEF

• 71% of Russians consider that one should be careful when interacting with other people (74% in 2018).;

• About half of Russians consider that most of people would not deceive if they had an opportunity (48%, +7 p.p. compared to 2018), every fifth is undecided.;

• Every second is confident that people tend to think about themselves (52%, −13 p.p. compared to 2018), and every third says people try to be helpful to others.

MOSCOW, 11 January 2024. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on how public trust has changed over the five years.

Trust, but verify?

Every fourth Rusisan believes that most people can be trusted (25%; 23% in 2018); and seven out of ten respondents tend to be careful when interacting with people (71%; 74% in 2018). Over the recent five years, the percentages have almost not changed.

The basic differentiating factor is wealth: people with high income are twice as likely to trust other people (33% vs. 17%).

Young respondents aged under 25 are the most cautious age group (81% vs. 71% of total Russians).

Although the majority try to be careful when interacting with other people, almost half of respondents believe that people are honest. Forty-eight percent of Russians think that other people would not try to deceit them if they had an opportunity (+7 p.p. compared to 2018). According to every third respondent, in such a situation one should expect to be deceived (31%, −11 p.p. compared to 2018). Since 2018 more Russians believe others are honest.

Those who think that people tend to be deceitful are often men (33% vs. 28% women), 25-34-year-olds (39%), respondents whose level of education is lower than higher education or those who have incomplete higher education diplomas (36-39%), respondents with low financial income (42%), and rural area inhabitants (37%).
Those who believe that people are honest are predominantly women (52% vs. 43% of men), the under-25s (54%), Russians with higher and incomplete higher education diplomas (59%), those with good financial income (63%) and metropolitan residents (54%).

Egoism vs altruism

Approximately one-third of Russians say that most people try to be helpful to other people (31%, +6 p.p. compared to 2018). Those who think so are often elderly respondents (37% of those aged 60+), Russians with favorable financial situation (41%) and inhabitants of Northwestern district (41%).

However, a vast majority of respondents believe that other people tend to think only about themselves (52%, −13 p.p. compared to 2018). This share amounts to 66% among those who have low income. Over the recent five years the situation has changed for the better: people are noticing more altruism and less egoism.

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted December 17, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ were surveyed. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 17 December, 2023: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8319; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0216; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1115. Calculations are based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

In your opinion, should the majority of people be trusted, or is it better to be careful when interacting with other people? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2018	2023
Most of people can be trusted	23	25
One should be careful when interacting with other people	74	71
Don’t know	3	4

In your opinion, should the majority of people be trusted, or is it better to be careful when interacting with other people? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
Most of people can be trusted	25	27	23	17	22	24	26	28
One should be careful when interacting with other people	71	69	73	81	76	73	71	65
Don’t know	4	4	4	2	2	3	3	7

In your opinion, would the majority of people try to deceive you, if they had an opportunity? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2018	2023
People would try to deceive you if they had an opportunity	42	31
People would behave in an honest way	41	48
Don’t know	17	21

In your opinion, would the majority of people try to deceive you, if they had an opportunity? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
People would try to deceive you if they had an opportunity	31	33	28	30	39	32	31	25
People would behave in an honest way	48	43	52	54	43	48	48	49
Don’t know	21	24	20	16	18	20	21	26

In your opinion, do people strive to be helpful to other people, or do they think only about themselves? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	2018	2023
They strive to be helpful to others	25	31
They only think about themselves	65	52
Don’t know	10	17

In your opinion, do people strive to be helpful to other people, or do they think only about themselves? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total	Men	Women	Ages 18-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60 +
They strive to be helpful to others	31	31	32	31	29	29	28	37
They only think about themselves	52	52	52	53	59	53	56	43
Don’t know	17	17	16	16	12	18	16	20

Topics:

Society