Arab Countries Ranked Worst on the Global Emotions Report

Do you know what Arab country has the most positive attitude? And which people were found to be most expressive of their feelings and anger? For the third year in a row, Gallup released their Global Emotions Report, which relies on a survey of at least 149,000 people in 142 countries. “Were you comfortable yesterday? Have you been treated with respect all day? Have you smiled or laughed a lot? Did you do something interesting? Have you felt physical pain? Are you worried? Were you sad? Tensed and angry?” With this set of questions, researchers try to determine emotional attitudes among nations. Who express their feelings the most? A comparative ranking of emotional expression ranged from the highest in Paraguay (84) to the lowest in Yemen (51). Paraguay topped the list of “most emotional countries in 2015”, while Syria got the lowest score on that same list. The countries that ranked the lowest in terms of emotional awareness, whether positive or negative, were all members of the former Soviet Union, with Belarus coming last. The report says people in Eastern Europe show very little interest in anything. Sentiment in the Middle East The Middle East and North Africa region has consistently scored the least in the Positive Experience Index. In 2016, the region scored (63) and was tied with the former Soviet Union, at the bottom of the list. All countries in the post-Soviet region, with the exception of two states, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, were below the world average. Six countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including most of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, are slightly above the global average in the Positive Experience Index. Who express their positive emotions the most? Latin American countries dominate the list of countries that express their positive emotions the most. Paraguay leads the list, followed by Costa Rica, Panama, then from another continent, the Philippines. The countries that ranked the lowest in the positive emotions index were Yemen, Turkey, and Iraq. Who is most expressive of their negative emotions? The MENA region alone got the lowest score among all global regions in the positive experience index in previous years and the highest score in the negative experience index. The recorded attitudes show negative emotions, a lack of desire to live, and an inability to think positively.

Emotions survey and behavioral economics Marketers and social scientists recognize the importance of measuring people's feelings as an indicator for future events and trends. "Some people might argue that sentiment and emotions are "soft data," and only hard data such as GDP and unemployment really matter to a country's future," wrote Jon Clifton, managing partner at Gallup, while presenting the report. "The results from Gallup's 2017 Global Emotions Report serve as a caution against this thinking because of two words: behavioral economics. This field of study suggests that about 30% of individual behavior is rational and the other 70% is emotional. And while organizations have started to apply this insight at a micro level, governments have been slow to do so at a macro level” Clifton explains, "This overreliance on hard data about rational behavior might explain why global leaders, economists, and political scientists missed social upheavals such as the Arab Spring, the Maidan Revolution, and Brexit, among others. Gallup's data on the other 70% -- or how people were feeling -- told a different story in each of these places". He adds, “While GDP per capita grew in almost perfect linear fashion in all four Arab countries, happiness plummeted.” According to Clifton, people who have greater emotional responses, whether positive or negative, have a better view of life. "Their interest in life is the key here; which does not necessarily rely on their incomes or economy."