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Growing insularity in S’pore amid economic anxiety, worries about the future: Edelman trust survey
Chin Soo FangTue, 24 March 2026 at 7:25 pm SGT
5 min read
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A majority of Singapore respondents reported unwillingness or hesitance to trust someone with different values.
(ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO)More
SINGAPORE - There is a growing wariness among people in Singapore of those who are different from them, similar to other developed societies, according to a recent report on trust in society.
The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer report found that this rise in insularity is driven by a growing sense of grievance over mounting economic anxiety, declining optimism about the future, and deepening concerns over misinformation.
Some 74 per cent of Singapore respondents reported unwillingness or hesitance to trust someone with different values, approaches to social issues, backgrounds, or information sources, behind Japan (89 per cent) and Germany (81 per cent) but ahead of Canada (73 per cent) and United States (70 per cent).
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Insularity is highest among developed societies, said the global communications firm that surveyed 28 markets across the various continents in October and November 2025. It cuts across income, gender, and age, and affects both developing and developed markets, with the global average being 70 per cent, it added.
The survey, conducted online on 1,200 respondents here, also found that people generally feel that institutions like the government and the media are obligated to bridge divides and build trust, though there is a gap between their expectations and their ratings of the institutions’ performance.
In Singapore, there are three forces behind the rise of insularity, said the report.
One such force is the all-time high levels of economic anxiety, with 71 per cent of employees worrying that trade policies and tariffs will hurt their employer, a 14 percentage point increase since 2019. In addition, 72 per cent of employees worry about losing their job as a result of a looming recession.
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Another is decreased optimism in the future, stated the report. Only 31 per cent of respondents believe that the next generation will be better off, down 11 percentage points from the year before. This is in line with a global trend downwards, as the average across the 28 markets also decreased by 4 percentage points to 32 per cent.
The third force is the “information crisis”. Two-thirds of respondents here worry that foreign actors are injecting falsehoods into national media to inflame domestic divisions, slightly more than in 2025 and an 18 percentage point jump since five years ago.
Only 30 per cent get information from sources with differing political views at least a weekly basis, a decrease of 8 percentage points since 2025.
Ms Delicia Tan, chief executive officer of Edelman Singapore, said Singapore is not immune to the global descent from fear to polarisation to grievance, and now to insularity.
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For example, 47 per cent of employees in Singapore would rather switch departments than report to a manager with different values. Meanwhile, 37 per cent would support reducing the number of foreign companies operating in the country even if it meant higher prices.
“To overcome insularity, each institution has a role to play, from translating between groups, setting the right tone, de-escalating tensions and encouraging interaction and cross-cultural conversations,” said Ms Tan.
Trust remains in institutions, who are expected to bridge divides
Singapore’s institutions remain trusted, with 76 per cent saying that the Government is still the most trusted institution. This is followed by their employer at 70 per cent, and the media, business and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), all at 60 per cent.All institutions are expected to bridge trust, with 86 per cent saying that this is the role of the Government. This is followed by the media (77 per cent), their employer (74 per cent), NGOs (73 per cent) and business (71 per cent).
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However, the respondents did not all feel that these institutions were doing this well. Sixty-five per cent indicated that they believed the Government to be doing so, followed by their employer (51 per cent), NGOs (48 per cent), the media (46 per cent) and business (46 per cent).
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The participants also indicated what they felt would be effective strategies for the institutions to bridge trust. For example, the Government should avoid rhetoric that blames or vilifies particular groups and politicians should engage in civil discourse.
They would also prefer that NGOs establish local community mediation programmes, and for businesses to bring employees to a physical workplace to interact with people who are different than them.
For the media, participants felt it would be more effective to dedicate equal time and coverage to different viewpoints on big issues and to write accurate headlines instead of exaggerated or fear-inducing ones.
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Over the past five years, the factors affecting trust in people and institutions in Singapore were inflation (58 per cent), the increasing prevalence of misinformation (50 per cent), the growing use of generative artificial intelligence platforms (46 per cent), trade wars (46 per cent), and the Covid-19 pandemic (35 per cent).
Rising insularity has also fueled nationalism, with trust in companies headquartered in their country far exceeding average trust in foreign companies, said the report. The difference in Singapore was 28 percentage points, close to the widest gaps seen in Japan (29) and Germany (29).
The report also shows a widening divide between social classes in their trust levels. In 2012, the trust gap between high- and low-income respondents in Singapore was seven percentage points.
