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The analytics company’s Negative Experience Index was calculated at a new high of 33 in 2021, meaning that people around the world were more stressed and unhappy than ever before.
Researchers questioned adults in 122 countries and areas on whether they had five different negative experiences on the day before the survey and indexed the results.
The higher up on the Negative Experience Index, the more a population is experiencing those emotions, according to Gallup.
The poll found that four in 10 adults around the world reported experiencing a lot of worry (up two points from the previous year at 42 percent) or stress (up one point at 41 percent), and a little more than three in 10 experienced a lot of physical pain (up two percentage points at 31 percent).
Researchers also found that over one in four respondents experienced sadness (up one point at 28 percent), and 23 percent experienced anger.
In addition to reporting more negative experiences, fewer people reported having positive experiences the day before, with the Positive Experience Index score in 2021 dropping to 69, researchers said. It marked the first such drop since 2017.
Respondents also reported feeling less well-rested and fewer said they derived enjoyment from the previous day, according to researchers.
Gallup attributed the increase in negative feelings in part to uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent rise in virus-related deaths.
However, Gallup noted that the pandemic wasn’t entirely to blame, as previous data showed that the world has been on a negative trajectory for a decade.
Click here for the full story from Gallup.
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