South Koreans score low on World Happiness Day

Posted on : 2015-03-24 15:19 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Poll measuring happiness in daily life finds below average S. Korean scores on respondents’ emotional states

“Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday? Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?”

How would you answer these questions? South Koreans rated among the lowest countries in the world for positive experiences in daily life, a recent study shows.

South Koreans ranked 118th among residents in 143 countries surveyed by the polling organization Gallup. Their score of 59 out of 100 placed them well below the global average of 71.

The score marks a four-point drop from the 63 recorded last year, while the ranking was down 24 places from 94th. Other countries tied with the same score as South Korea included Armenia, Palestine, and the African country of Gabon. China and Japan placed significantly higher, with happiness scores of 75 and 66, respectively.

The findings, released to mark the UN-established International Day of Happiness on Mar. 20, were based on telephone and interview results for 1,000 people over 15 in each country. To measure positive everyday experience, Gallup pollsters asked five questions about the respondent’s emotional state the day before the survey: whether they laughed a lot, whether they felt well-rested, whether they were treated with respect, whether they experienced enjoyment throughout much of the day, and whether they learned or did something interesting.

According to Gallup, over 70% of respondents around the world gave positive answers to the first four questions, while half gave positive answers to the last.

For the first time in the poll‘s history, all of the top ten countries were in Central and South America. Paraguay placed first with 89 points, while Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala tied for second with 84 points.

The lowest-ranking countries for positive experience were the African countries of Sudan (47 points) and Tunisia (52). Indeed, Middle Eastern and North African countries ranked among the lowest in the world, with an average of 59 points. All except Saudi Arabia placed below the global average.

The world average has shown a trend of slight increase since being calculated at 68 points in the first survey in 2006.

 

By Kwak No-pil, senior staff writer

 

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