According to a recent public survey conducted by Gallup, the Philippines tops the list of the most emotional societies in the world. The Philippines is closely followed by El Salvador, Bahrain, Oman, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Canada, Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua, and the United States.
The survey asked respondents from over 150 countries about how they felt every day in terms of negative and positive emotions. According to the Gallup article by Jon Clifton in which the survey results are presented, these emotions were rated on a scale from zero to ten and were defined as “… Negative experiences include anger, stress, sadness, physical pain, and worry. Positive emotions include feeling well-rested, being treated with respect, enjoyment, smiling and laughing a lot, and learning or doing something interesting.”
Gallup discovered that 60% or six out of ten Filipino respondents reported experiencing different emotions on a daily basis. On the other hand, Singapore was found to be the least emotional society in the world with only 36% or roughly around four out of ten Singaporeans experiencing different emotions daily. Following in Singapore’s wake are Georgia, Lithuania, Russia, Madagascar, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan.
Despite Singapore’s affluence (Bloomberg Businessweek describes Singapore as a country where 5.3 million people are “one of the world’s wealthiest, with per-capita gross domestic product of $33,530”) compared to the Philippines, it seems that most of its citizens are still finding it difficult to let go and enjoy what they’ve worked so hard for.
The conclusion? “Behavioral indicators such as positive and negative emotions are a vital measure of a society’s wellbeing. Leaders worldwide are starting to incorporate such behavioral-based indicators into the metrics they use to evaluate their countries because they realize that traditional economic indicators such as GDP and 40-hour workweeks alone do not, and cannot, quantify the human condition,” noted Clifton.
For an interactive map displaying these survey results, you can visit Bloomberg Businessweek.
(Featured Image by Luisa M. Crisostomo and Infographics Courtesy of Gallup)
