What survey evidence is there that trust in authority has declined and trust in ourselves increased?

I have seen some survey evidence to show our faith in ourselves and our trust in our peers has been stable and our faith in authority of various kinds has fallen. What I've seen is not very up-to-date though.





This is to substantiate an argument I am making in a speech. I want evidence from market research with percentages. So that I can show eg 20 years ago x % trusted eg advertising and y% trusted companies and now the figures are lower. The actual timespam is not important as long as the recent data is fairly up to date.

What survey evidence is there that trust in authority has declined and trust in ourselves increased?
You didn't say what survey evidence you have seen... so you may already be aware of the information below!





An Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded survey found that between 1974 and 2004, trust in Government declined. In 1974, two in five Britons trusted Government to put the nation's needs over those of their party 'always' or 'most of the time'. In 2004, that figure halved to little more than one in five.





General trust across society: At around 40 per cent, the proportion who say that most people can be trusted has changed little over the last two decades.





More details about the survey can be found at the link below.
Reply:There is probably no direct evidence as you have to "define" authority and also "yourself". However, there will be a lot of indirect evidence e.g increasing use of conveyancing forms as opposed to paying a lawyer. Own Tax returns compared to those prepared by accountants etc. Apart form the trust of course is the convenience, cost etc. However there are lies and there is statistics. Your question itself is indicative of this fact. You start off with an assumption and you are only trying to substantiate your arguments and not necessarily after the thruth!