Catholic Online Forum

Singapore is the least emotional country in the world. ”Singaporeans recognize they have a problem,” Bloomberg Businessweek writes of the country’s “emotional deficit,” citing a culture in which schools “discourage students from thinking of themselves as individuals.” They also point to low work satisfaction, competitiveness, and the urban experience: “Staying emotionally neutral could be a way of coping with the stress of urban life in a place where 82 percent of the population lives in government-built housing.”

The Philippines is the world’s most emotional country. It’s not even close; the heavily Catholic, Southeast Asian nation, a former colony of Spain and the U.S., scores well above second-ranked El Salvador.

People in the Americas are just exuberant. Every nation on the North and South American continents ranked highly on the survey. Americans and Canadians are both among the 15 most emotional countries in the world, as well as ten Latin countries. The only non-American countries in the top 15, other than the Philippines, are the Arab nations of Oman and Bahrain, both of which rank very highly.

English- and Spanish-speaking societies tend to be highly emotional and happy. Though the Anglophone nations of the world retain deep cultural links, it’s not clear if Spain’s emotional depth has anything to do with Latin America’s. According to Gallup, “Latin America leads the world when it comes to positive emotions, with Panama, Paraguay, and Venezuela at the top of that list.” Yes, even Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela is apparently filled with happy people.

I had no idea that was true of Sinagpore.

When I read this, I laughed and then I cried.

Neither did I!

Is surprise an emotion? Because I'm actually very surprised at the findings regarding the U.S. and Canada, as well as at parts of Europe, particulary Germany.

Jeff,

It had nothing to do with capitalism in the beginning. Incomes were low at the start and the majority could not afford to buy a home. We were becoming an island of slums. The apartments are now sold at market prices and build my private businesses and banks are now financing the sales.

Interesting. I find Singapore a fascinating place from a historical/cultural perspective. I should learn more about it.

It's worth a visit if you have the time. You'll find a vast contrast from what has been written about us in the world's press and the reality of things.

I wish I had when I was stationed in that part of the world, my wife and I vacationed in Taiwan which was nice, like to have made Singapore.

Here is the Fact Book page on Singapore, how would you rate the information accurate or pure Hooey or something in between.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... os/sn.html

Dean,

I'm very surprised at your seminary characterizing the US as cold and reserved. It seems to me that when I read the opinions of Europeans about our culture they almost characterize Americans as almost too friendly and outgoing.

Dean,

I'm very surprised at your seminary characterizing the US as cold and reserved. It seems to me that when I read the opinions of Europeans about our culture they almost characterize Americans as almost too friendly and outgoing.

Dean,

I'm very surprised at your seminary characterizing the US as cold and reserved. It seems to me that when I read the opinions of Europeans about our culture they almost characterize Americans as almost too friendly and outgoing.

Why is Angola so heavy with feeling?

Scaringly friendly and outgoing The first time I was in the States I could not understand why every single person I met would greet me. It freaked me out ...

Scaringly friendly and outgoing The first time I was in the States I could not understand why every single person I met would greet me. It freaked me out .

general traits in people from different geographical regions.

It would be interesting to see how exactly they measure emotion. The map is almost the opposite of what I would have expected in some places.

Since 2009, the Gallup polling firm has surveyed people in 150 countries and territories on, among other things, their daily emotional experience. Their survey asks five questions, meant to gauge whether the respondent felt significant positive or negative emotions the day prior to the survey. The more times that people answer “yes” to questions such as “Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?”, the more emotional they’re deemed to be.

Gallup has tallied up the average “yes” responses from respondents in almost every country on Earth. The results, which I’ve mapped out above, are as fascinating as they are indecipherable. The color-coded key in the map indicates the average percentage of people who answered “yes.” Dark purple countries are the most emotional, yellow the least. Here are a few takeaways.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Singaporeans are the least likely in the world to report experiencing emotions of any kind on a daily basis. The 36% who report feeling either positive or negative emotions is the lowest in the world. Filipinos, on the other hand, are the most emotional, with six in 10 saying they experience a lot of these feelings daily.

Behavioral indicators such as positive and negative emotions are a vital measure of a society's wellbeing. Leaders worldwide are starting to incorporate such behavioral-based indicators into the metrics they use to evaluate their countries because they realize that traditional economic indicators such as GDP and 40-hour workweeks alone do not, and cannot, quantify the human condition.

While higher incomes may improve people's emotional wellbeing, they can only do so to a certain extent. In the United States, for example, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman and Princeton economist Angus Deaton found that after individuals make $75,000 annually, additional income will have little meaningful effect on how they experience their lives. Consider this finding in the context of Singapore, a country with one of the lowest unemployment rates and highest GDP per capita rates in the world, but a place where residents barely experience any positive emotions. This research shows that it will take more than higher incomes to increase positive emotions or decrease negative emotions. Singapore leadership needs to consider strategies that lie outside of the traditional confines of classic economics and would be well-advised to include wellbeing in its overall strategies if it is going to further improve the lives of its citizenry.

Read more about Singapore's emotion deficit in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Filipinos, on the other hand, are the most emotional, with six in 10 saying they experience a lot of these feelings daily

I feel I must strongly protest this report. Right now I'm jumping up and down, screaming my lungs out, pulling my hair and ready to scratch the eyes of whoever did this survey!!!!! Grrr!!!

I'm thankful that a textual explanation accompanied this map. No matter how hard I squint, I am unable to discern Singapore at the south end of the Malay Peninsula!

I feel I must strongly protest this report. Right now I'm jumping up and down, screaming my lungs out, pulling my hair and ready to scratch the eyes of whoever did this survey!!!!! Grrr!!!