How does that make you feel? In a study conducted from 2009-2011, Gallup asked the same question to the entire world in an effort to find out how emotional the world’s countries are. As the Washington Post reported, surveyors asked people questions like “Did you laugh or smile a lot yesterday?” and “Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?” — the more times the people answered “yes” to the questions, the more emotional they ranked on the scale.
Some of the findings were to be expected – South Americans are exuberant, people in the Middle East are not happy – while other results were pretty out of the blue. Singapore is apparently the least emotional country, to such a degree that the whole country acknowledges their “emotional deficit.” France, often stereotyped by their characteristic sangfroid, is surprisingly the twenty-first most emotional country, while generally passionate Italians ranked more level-headed on the scale.
To bring things back home, the United States is the fifteenth most emotional country in the world, according to the study. As the Washington Post reported, Americans are both “exuberant” and “highly emotional and happy.” That’s not too shocking, considering our recent elections and our affinity for hugs and emoticons.
What is it that makes Oman so cheerful and Russians so stoic? Let us know in the comments below: how does it make you feel?