Scientific Study Concludes No One Trusts Lawyers By Staci Zaretsky
Many people enter the legal profession with the expectation that the public will see them as members of a noble trade to be revered and admired. Unfortunately, that’s simply not the case at all. For every would-be Atticus Finch, there exists an off-color lawyer joke. If you’d call 5,000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean “a good start,” then you’re not alone.According to a new study, although lawyers are viewed by the public as part of an “envied” profession, no one really likes them. Sure, lawyers may gain a scant amount of respect from some, but when you’re viewed generally as heartless bastards, no one will trust you…
These are just some of the conclusions drawn from a Princeton University study conducted by Susan Fiske and Cydney Dupree. You may want to have a stiff drink before taking a look at Fiske and Dupree’s warmth v. competence chart to see how lawyers are rated compared to other professions:
While lawyers are perceived as some of the most capable and competent professionals — behind only doctors, scientists, and engineers — they’re almost on par with prostitutes when it comes to warmth. Let that one sink in as you read what Fiske and Dupree have to say about similarly situated professionals:
The [rightmost] corner lists the ambivalently perceived high-competence, low-warmth, “envied” professions: lawyers, chief executive officers, engineers, accountants, scientists, and researchers. They earn respect but not trust. Being seen as competent but cold might not seem problematic until one recalls that communicator credibility requires not just status and expertise (competence) but also trustworthiness (warmth). People report envy and jealousy toward groups in this space. These are mixed emotions that include both admiration and resentment.Lawyers, of course, can’t blame all of their perceived untrustworthiness on jealousy and resentment. Perhaps if they’d like to stop being seen as “cold, ruthlessly efficient machines,” they should try to pay the same amount of attention to their social interactions with clients as they do their billable hours.
What’s the lesson to be learned here? The next time someone asks you what the difference between a lawyer and a hooker is, it’s not just that the hooker will stop trying to screw you when you’re dead.
Gaining trust as well as respect in communicating to motivated audiences about science topics [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States]
This Chart Will Show How Respected Your Profession Is [Science of Us / New York Magazine]
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