A classic survey question asks whether most people can be trusted or whether one cannot be careful enough. In an Ipsos survey of January 2026, 46 percent said one cannot be careful enough. Only 21 percent said most people can be trusted, and 32 percent gave no clear answer. These figures concern trust in other people in general, not in colleagues. In 2009 the DIW, using data from the Socio-Economic Panel, found that about 14 percent of Germans have high trust in other people, just under half medium trust and about 40 percent rather low trust.