Despite all the calamities, including the global economic crisis, wars or the threat of a flu pandemic, human beings remain optimistic by nature, according to a new study by the University of Kansas and presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in San Francisco. The conclusion comes from a survey of more than 150,000 adults from 140 countries.
According to the survey data, 95% of the world's population believes that the next five years will be as good or better than the previous five . "We have shown that optimism is a universal phenomenon ", concludes Matthew Gallagher, head of the study. The highest levels of optimism have been found in Ireland, Brazil, Denmark and New Zealand . The lowest rates are in Zimbabwe, Egypt, Haiti, and Bulgaria. Spain is also among the most optimistic countries, ahead of our French and Portuguese neighbors.
University of Kansas
