Latin American countries top ranking of happiest nations of 2014
If you had to answer quickly, head on, if humanity as a whole is happy, what would your answer be? If you answered yes, you got it right. At least that is what a survey conducted by Gallup in 2014 revealed. The analysis included more than 150, 000 adults interviewed in 148 countries around the world.
The Global Emotions Report 2015 sought to assess whether people were happy with questions about the feelings and experiences of the day before the survey. The computed data were rated on a scale from 0 to 100 and the average global index of positive experiences in 2014 was 71%.
The number that indicates the level of positivity in the world has kept the same average of 2013 and has not changed significantly since 2006, as can be seen in the chart below, made by the site Atlas:
This allows us to say that despite the many problems such as conflict and economic crisis, humanity is still happy. However, which countries have the most positivity? And which has the highest rate of negative experiences? Let's see below:
The positivity ranking
Those responsible for the survey raised numbers to analyze both the positivity index and the negative experiences of people. Of the countries that had the highest rates of positive emotions, several are from Latin America. Paraguay, which got the highest score, was 89. Colombia (2nd), Ecuador (3rd) and Venezuela (7th) are the other top 10 South American representatives.
Brazil's positivity index was average, so the country was not among the top 10 most positive, but the score was more satisfactory than the countries with the lowest index. Most of these places have passed or are in turbulent times of war or political conflict. Still, according to the survey, many participants said they had reason to smile.
The nation that had the least positive emotions in 2014, according to the survey, was Sudan. The North African country was also the only one to average below 50% with 47 points. Second-to-last Tunisia scored 52% on positive emotions last year.
The negative experiences
Another item raised by the study was the index of negative experiences each nation had. Compared to 2013, there was a slight decrease, but, as with the positivity ranking, the average has remained within the same margin since 2006, with 25%.
Among the nations with the highest negative experiences, Iraq, with 56%, and Iran, with 50%, are the leaders. The two countries have been leading the list of those with the most negative emotions for some years, according to the Quartz website.
An interesting point in this analysis is that some places showed intense emotional levels, as they eventually indicated high rates of both positive and negative emotions. Bolivia and El Salvador are two examples. In these countries, almost 60% of participants ended up giving the same affirmative answer to all questions.
On the other hand, there were also countries where the level of emotions was very low, showing neither positive nor negative emotions on the day before the questionnaire was applied.
Some factors that influence the results
Individual freedom, the presence of communities and work opportunities, as well as personal issues, are the points that are most associated with positive emotions. As for the negative aspects, there is an observation about the survey conducted in 2013. At the time, Greece and Syria had a higher rate of negative emotions and lower positive ones compared to 2012. It is worth remembering that Syria was not included in the last survey because was not considered safe enough to receive the study.
For Gallup director of analysis Jon Clifton, this shows that external factors such as corruption, hunger and economic hardship are related to negative emotions. Bringing this to the current Brazilian political economic scenario, the research that will be conducted this year should present results focused on negative rather than positive emotions.
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