Middle East Leads World in Negative Emotions, U.S. Not Far Behind

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- People living in Iraq, the Palestinian Territories, Bahrain, and a few other Middle Eastern countries are among the most likely worldwide to experience a lot of negative emotions on a daily basis, according to Gallup's Negative Experience Index. Iraq's score of 59 on the index in 2011 -- which is based on respondents' reports of experiencing anger, stress, worry, sadness, and physical pain -- is the highest in the world. The Palestinian Territories placed a distant second with a score of 43.

The U.S. was in the top quartile for daily negative emotions in 2011, scoring a 32 with increases in sadness, worry, and physical pain since 2007. This score puts the U.S. higher than many Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development member countries other than Hungary, Spain, Israel, Chile, Turkey, and Greece. Americans' negative emotions were at their lowest in 2007, with an index score of 23, the year before the economic downturn.

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