Stress Levels Fall Globally, But Negative Experiences Rise in Countries in Conflict
25 June 2024 - 12:01PM
Business Wire
The world was beset by conflict in 2023 — as the war between
Ukraine and Russia dragged on and a new one broke out between
Israel and Hamas — but it was in a better place emotionally than it
was at the height of the pandemic. Negative emotions tumbled for
the first time in a decade and positive emotions rebounded to their
pre-pandemic highs.
The Gallup Global Emotions 2024 Report offers a snapshot from
Gallup’s latest measurements of people’s positive and negative
daily experiences. The findings are based on nearly 146,000
interviews with adults in 142 countries and areas in 2023.
Gallup’s Positive and Negative Experience Indexes measure life’s
intangibles — feelings and emotions — that traditional economic
indicators such as GDP were never intended to capture. Each index
provides a real-time snapshot of people’s daily experiences,
offering leaders insights into the health of their societies that
they cannot gather from economic measures alone.
Israel Goes From One of the Best to One of the Worst on
Negative Experiences
Afghanistan no longer scores the worst on the Negative
Experience Index. Guinea took the top spot in 2023 with a score of
53, as the country continued to grapple with deadly protests and
uncertainty after the 2021 military coup.
Not far behind was Israel, which Gallup surveyed two weeks after
the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7. It earned a spot on this list for the
first time with a score of 47 — on par with Afghanistan and
Liberia. In 2022, Israel ranked among the countries with the lowest
scores in the world on this index.
Israel’s index score was inflated by record-level surges in
negative emotions in the aftermath of the attacks. Majorities of
Israelis experienced worry (67%), stress (62%) and sadness (51%) at
unprecedented levels. Over one in three Israelis (36%) said they
experienced a lot of anger — not a new high, but still the highest
percentage since 2013.
Globally, Negative Experiences Declined as Stress Levels
Fell
On a global level, Gallup’s Negative Experience Index declined
for the first time since 2014. All five negative emotions that make
up the index fell between 2022 and 2023, but stress levels dropped
the most. Thirty-seven percent of the world felt stressed in 2023,
down three percentage points from the previous year, but notably
remaining well above where it was a decade ago (33%) and the years
before that.
Worldwide, stress was still present everywhere, although to
varying degrees. Reported stress was above 60% in Northern Cyprus
(65%) and Israel (62%) and below 10% in Kyrgyzstan (8%).
Israel led the world in increased stress, with levels soaring 38
points to a new record high. Other countries also saw double-digit
increases, including Latvia (17 points), Kuwait (14 points) and
Egypt (13 points).
Positive Experience Index Rebound Complete
Further reinforcing that 2023 was a better year for the world’s
emotional health, positive experiences rebounded to their
pre-pandemic levels, completing the recovery that started in
2022.
People younger than 30 continued to be the most positive of all
age groups. Further, their positivity rebounded faster, with
emotions bouncing back a year earlier than their older peers. Most
of the improvement on the index in 2023 occurred among those aged
30 and older.
Afghanistan Scores Lowest in the World on the Positive
Experience Index — Again
Along with Afghanistan, most countries and territories that
scored the lowest in the world on positive experiences in 2022 also
scored the lowest in 2023. Northern Cyprus was no exception: The
territory’s score of 46 is its lowest on record.
Lebanon and Türkiye also scored near the bottom of the rankings,
as they have since 2020. However, Lebanon’s Positive Experience
Index continued to rebound in 2023. At 47, Türkiye’s score remained
statistically unchanged from the previous year (45).
About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and
organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more
than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows
more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers,
students and citizens than any other organization in the world.
About Gallup World Poll
The Gallup World Poll is the most comprehensive and
farthest-reaching survey of the world. The survey connects with
more than 99% of the world's adult population through annual,
nationally representative surveys with comparable metrics across
countries. The Gallup World Poll is used to measure and track
progress on several U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and is the
official statistic for work and life for more than 55 indexes and
metrics associated with the most important aspects of individuals’
lives, their communities and their countries.
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khorshied_nusratty@gallup.com