Middle East leads world in negative emotions, poll says
People living in Iraq and the Palestinian Authority are the least likely to look on the bright side of life, according to Gallup’s Negative Experience Index
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Denizens of Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, Bahrain and other Middle Eastern countries are among the most likely to experience negative emotions on a daily basis, Gallup’s Negative Experience Index reported Wednesday.
Gallup Inc. is a research-based performance-management consulting company that regularly conducts public opinion polls around the world.The findings in its Negative Experience Index are based on Gallup interviews conducted in 148 countries in 2011, measuring the respondents’ experienced well-being on the day before the survey.
The index is an aggregation of five questions regarding pain, worry, sadness, stress and anger.
In Iraq, sadness, stress and pain have reached record levels with a score of 59, while the PA came a distant second scoring an unhealthy 43.
Another country high up in the chart is Egypt (39), whose experience of 2011 was defined by wave of revolutionary demonstrations and protests that led to the ousting (and subsequent trial) of president Hosni Mubarak.
The European country ranked highest on the chart is Greece (38), which might be forced out of the eurozone as a consequence of its inability to service its huge debt.
Israel ranks high among the OECD countries, tied with Chile and Spain at 35 negativity points, slightly above the US and Canada, which stand at 32 and 29 points respectively, in the ranking.
On the opposite end of the scale are countries from Asia and the former Soviet bloc, including a surprisingly chipper Russia with a mere 16 points.
The Times of Israel Community.