If you want to be among the most trusted, admired and sought after for marriage, go to medical school.

Reuters reports that the top job that attracts lovers is a doctor, according to an international survey of 5,500 respondents conducted by Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc. By contrast, actors, musicians, journalists and advertisers are among the professionals whom people trust the least and are also the least likely professions from which to choose a life partner.

"Much of who we are is tied up in what we do in the hours from 9 to 5, and often way beyond," a Synovate statement said. "Asking someone what they do for a living is often the first question you ask them; right after 'What's your name?'"

The survey, which was conducted in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Malaysia, South Africa and the United States, asked the following questions:

• What is an admirable job?
  
• Which professions do you trust or don't trust?
  
• Who is overpaid?
  
• What professional would you prefer to marry?

The professions ranked lowest for marriage material and the least trusted were those in retail (1 percent), media and marketing (2 percent) and entertainers (3 percent).

Entertainers, along with corporate executives and lawyers, were considered the most overpaid, while homemakers and educators were viewed as being underpaid.

--From the Editors at Netscape