Growing insularity in S’pore amid economic anxiety, worries about the future: Edelman trust survey

SINGAPORE – There is a growing wariness among people in Singapore towards 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.

About 74 per cent of Singapore respondents reported being unwilling or hesitant to trust someone with different values, approaches to social issues, backgrounds or information sources, less than in Japan (89 per cent) and Germany (81 per cent), but more than in Canada (73 per cent) and the US (70 per cent).

Insularity is highest among developed societies, said the global communications firm, which surveyed 28 markets across 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 at 70 per cent, it added.

The survey, conducted online with 1,200 respondents here, also found that people generally feel institutions such as the government and media are obligated to bridge divides and build trust, though there is a gap between their expectations and ratings of the institutions’ performance.

In Singapore, there are three forces behind the rise of insularity, the report said.

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 affect their employer, a 14 percentage point increase since 2019. In addition, 72 per cent of employees worry about losing their jobs as a result of a looming recession.

Another is decreased optimism for the future, the report said. 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 downward trend, 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 over the past five years.

Only 30 per cent get information from sources with differing political views at least once a week, a decrease of 8 percentage points since 2025.

Ms Delicia Tan, chief executive of Edelman Singapore, said the Republic is not immune to the global descent from fear to polarisation to grievance, and now to insularity.

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,” Ms Tan said.

Trust remains in Singapore institutions

Singapore’s institutions remain trusted, with 76 per cent saying the Government is still the most trusted institution. Respondents’ employers follow at 70 per cent, and then the media, businesses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), all at 60 per cent.

All institutions are expected to bridge trust, with 86 per cent saying this is the role of the Government. This is followed by the media (77 per cent), respondents’ employers (74 per cent), NGOs (73 per cent) and businesses (71 per cent).

But respondents did not all feel that these institutions were doing this well.

A total of 65 per cent said they believed the Government was doing so, followed by their employers (51 per cent), NGOs (48 per cent), the media (46 per cent) and businesses (46 per cent).

The respondents 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 different from them.

For the media, respondents 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.

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 fuelled nationalism, with trust in companies headquartered in the country far exceeding average trust in foreign companies, the report said. 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 7 percentage points.

In 2026, this had widened to 16 percentage points. Globally, the largest disparities are in the US (29), Indonesia (26) and Nigeria (26).