Gallup CEO Jon Clifton tells Axios that to flatten the curve on growing global unhappiness, private and public leaders need to focus on three things: improving well-being at work, addressing global loneliness and fixing global hunger.
Driving the news: Clifton's conclusions are based on the annual "Gallup Global Emotions" report, out today.
Why it matters: The world's stress is at record levels. "Emotionally, the second year of the pandemic was an even tougher year for the world than the first one," Gallup found.
- "As 2021 served up a steady diet of uncertainty, the world became a slightly sadder, more worried and more stressed-out place."
The bleak graphic above is based on people's self-reported anger, sadness, stress, worry and physical pain.
- The findings are based on an astonishing 127,000 interviews with adults in 122 countries and areas in 2021 and early 2022.
Between the lines: In Gallup's 2006 report, the U.S. ranked 20th out of 122 countries for negative emotions. In 2021, the U.S. was 46th.
- But that's not because we're getting happier, Clifton tells Axios: It's because the rest of the world is getting unhappier.
