Walkup's Way Home Ethical Perception of Professions
 
Do certain careers attract people with a higher ethics?
Do we harbor different  ethical perceptions/prejudices of workers in various professions?

Gallup conducts an annual survey on the honesty and ethical standards of various professions.  Guess which one came out on top?   (The answer is at the bottom of this page.)

Classroom exercise
What rating would you give to the following workers?

 

Profession High Ethics Medium Ethics Low Ethics
Advertising practitioners      
Car salesmen      
Congressmen      
Grade School Teachers      
Lawyers      
Medical Doctors      
Military Officers      
Nurses      
Newspaper Reporters      
Pharmacists      
Policemen      
 
Compare your ratings to Gallup's

Answer to trivia question above:
      Nurses score the highest  79% give nurses a "very high" or "high" rating.

 

 
Profession High Ethical Rating
Advertising practitioners 10%
Car salesmen 9%
Congressmen 20%
Grade School Teachers 73%
Lawyers 18%
Medical Doctors 67%
Military Officers 72%
Nurses 79%
Newspaper Reporters 21%
Pharmacists 72%
Policemen 60%

 

 

Source: Norwich Bulletin, Thursday, December 16, page E1 "Service People Most Ethical"