Latest Tandem Poll Reveals Brits Most Likely to Lie at Work, Chinese to Their Family & Russians at School

LONDON, April 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• Politicians declared most untrustworthy by over half of all respondents  
• Brits, Chinese and Russians most dishonest, while Spanish most trustworthy 

On Sunday, 30^th April the US commemorates National Honesty Day. To celebrate, language exchange app Tandem has polled its members across Europe, Russia and China to compare the differences in honesty around the globe.

Likely to be dishonest to their family were Chinese respondents (38%) while Russians (32%) found it hardest to be honest during school and university and Brits most commonly lie to their colleagues at work (26%).  Plus nearly half of those Italian respondents (45%) would go so far as to lie about their health to avoid work, as well as over a third of Russians (34%) and Germans (31%).

Professional liars: 

However, when asked to name the most dishonest of seven top professions including estate agents, lawyers, politicians and journalists, a more unanimous result was declared across the world.

Over half (58%) of all respondents voted politicians the most dishonest; in Spain (86%), Italy (71%), UK (69%), Russia (55%), France (54%) and Germany (53%).

Nations of liars: 

From nation to nation, the most dishonest respondents resided in the UK (62%), China (62%) and Russia (61%), followed by France (59%) and Germany (55%) who each admitted to telling a few regular lies. Spain however was found to be the most trustworthy, with over three quarters (78%) declaring they were very honest, followed by over half of Italian respondents (55%).

Tall tales: 

Respondents also admitted that it wasn't just adults that they lie to, with Brits (70%) and Russians (69%) tending to favour the little white lies and tales of fairies and superheroes told to children, while scare tactics of ghosts and monsters prove most effective with children in China (76%) and France (68%).

Tandem's in-house honesty Tzar, Susanna Wood, commented, "It's really interesting to observe the differences country to country. Whilst it's clear that each nation has differences in approach, there are also commonalities in opinions and behaviours that link us all and define our values, regardless of language or cultural barriers - and no matter whether its politics, work or play! It's this which makes it possible for us all to learn and grow from each other, and why we launched Tandem, so everyone can learn languages and find out about different cultures."

For further information please contact: 

Zoe Sobol, Snowball PR 

zoe@snowballpr.co.uk  / +44(0)7971066034

Notes to Editor  

Tandem surveyed 600 of its members across the globe.