Index/ Albanians are the most stressed in the region

2024-06-26 07:39:00, Aktualitet CNA

Albanians are the ones who experience more sadness, stress and physical pain than all the other countries of the Balkans, as far as the five negative experiences are concerned.

On the other hand, after Kosovo, we are the ones who experience more pleasure, relaxation, smile more and are treated with more respect.

The data was released in Gallup's Global Emotions 2024 report, which provides a snapshot of the latest measurements of people's daily positive and negative experiences. The findings are based on nearly 146,000 interviews with adults in 142 countries and territories in 2023.

Gallup's positive and negative experience indices measure the intangibles of life—feelings and emotions—that traditional economic indicators like GDP fail to capture. Each index provides a real-time snapshot of people's everyday experiences, providing leaders with insights into societal health that they cannot glean from economic indicators alone.

Did you experience the following feelings for much of yesterday? This is how the Albanian respondents answered:

Outrage

24 percent of Albanians claimed that they experienced anger the day before, while 74% did not

Sadness

29% felt sad, 70% did not experience sadness, 1% refused to answer.

Stress

49% experienced stress in the previous day, 50% did not, 1% refused to answer.

Concern

40% were concerned, 60% were not

Physical pain

46% of respondents felt physical pain the day before, while 53% did not, 1% refused to answer. (the most tired in the region)

pleasure

68 percent of respondents experienced satisfaction, 31% did not, 1% refused to answer

Relaxed

65% felt relaxed, 34% did not, 1% refused

Did you learn or do something interesting?

35% learned or did something interesting, 65% did not, 1% refused

You smiled or laughed

74% managed to smile, 25% did not, 1% refused to answer

They were treated with respect

92% were treated with respect, 7% were not, 1% refused.

In Europe, the most stressed are the Greeks, the least angry are the Finns and the Portuguese, the least upset are the citizens of Kosovo and Poland.

(To see other countries of the region: https://shorturl.at/3ZnbM)

Index/ Albanians are the most stressed in the region

Negative emotions fall globally for the first time since 2014

The world was engulfed in conflict in 2023 – as the war between Ukraine and Russia continued and a new one broke out between Israel and Hamas – but it was better emotionally than at the height of the pandemic.

Negative emotions decreased for the first time in a decade, and positive emotions returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The index of negative experiences decreases

Globally, Gallup's Negative Experiences Index fell for the first time since 2014. All five negative emotions that make up the index fell between 2022 and 2023, with stress posting the biggest decline.

Thirty-seven percent of adults worldwide felt stressed in 2023, three percentage points lower than last year, but well above where it was a decade ago (33%) and the years before that.

Guinea and Israel lead in negative experiences

Afghanistan no longer scores worst on the Negative Experience Index. Guinea, which continues to

faces insecurity, following a military coup in 2021, scored the highest in the world in the 2023 index, 53 points. Stress rose to record levels in Guinea, increasing by 10 points between 2022 and 2023.

Israel, which Gallup surveyed two weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks, earned a spot on the list for the first time, with a score of 47 — on par with Afghanistan and Liberia. In 2022, Israel ranked among the lowest-scoring countries in the world on this index.

Israel's index score was worsened by record increases in negative emotions as a result of the attacks. Most Israelis experienced worry (67%), stress (62%) and sadness (51%) at an unprecedented rate. Over one in three Israelis (36%) said they experienced a lot of anger – not a new high, but still the highest percentage since 2013.

The index of positive experiences is fully recovered

Further reinforcing that 2023 was a better year for the world's emotional health, positive experiences returned to pre-pandemic levels as the improvement began in 2022.

People under 30 continued to be the most positive of all age groups. Further, their positivity rebounded more quickly, with emotions reaching pre-pandemic levels a year earlier than older age groups.

Most of the improvement in the index in 2023 occurred among those aged 30 and over.

The world learned something in 2023

For nearly two decades, the percentage of people around the world who said they learned or did something

Interestingly, it rarely exceeded 50%. 54%, who did so in 2023, represents a record high.

India, Iceland, Greece and China saw double-digit growth in this indicator in 2023.

More people across all age groups said they had these options in 2023 than a year earlier, but people younger than 30 remained the most likely to say so (59%).

The percentages at older ages also reached high levels (54% for those aged 30 to 49 and 50% for those aged 50 and over).

Afghanistan a little less gloomy, but still the least positive in the world

Worldwide Positive Experiences Index scores ranged from 86 in Paraguay and Panama to a low of 38 in Afghanistan, which has scored the lowest in the world almost every year since 2017.

Afghanistan's score on the index was slightly higher in 2023 than it was in 2021 or 2022 after the Taliban took power. However, its score of 38 remains the lowest in the world and most Afghans are still living in poverty. Gallup polls showed that Afghans in general were rating their lives so poorly that they were considered suffering.

Most of the limited recent improvements in positive emotions have occurred among Afghan men. In 2023, Afghan men scored 42 on the index, compared to 34 for Afghan women.

Afghanistan has been ranked as the least positive country in the world every year since 2017, except for 2020, when Gallup was unable to survey the country due to the pandemic. After falling to a global record low of 32 in 2021, scores have risen each year, reaching 38 in 2023.

Over one in five adults worldwide feel lonely

Given the substantial threat that loneliness and isolation pose to people's health and well-being, Gallup recently added 'loneliness' to the list of negative emotions it asks the world about.

An analysis of the relationship between loneliness and other emotions reveals that people who said they felt lonely were less likely to experience positive emotions.

Gallup's initial measurement in 2023 showed that over one in five adults worldwide (23%) reported feelings of loneliness on many days. However, experiences of loneliness varied widely around the world, from a high of 45% in the island nation of Comoros, to a low of 6% in Vietnam./ Monitor.al