The Philippines is the most stressed and the second angriest and saddest country in Southeast Asia in 2021, according to a report conducted by global analytic firm Gallup.
The Gallup Global Emotions Report measures "the world's emotional temperature" through extensive surveys and studies that discover the "emotional states of people in more than 100 countries and areas."
The results of the report were derived from surveys done in 2021 up to early 2022.
The methodology is "nationally representative, with probability-based samples among the adult population, ages 15 and older," said Gallup.
The respondents were asked if they felt stressed, angry, or sad the day before the survey was conducted.
Their answers varied from "yes", "no", and "don't know or refused to answer."
Stress factor
Some 48 percent of respondents in the Philippines said they felt stressed prior to the survey, the highest among Southeast Asian countries. Fifty-two percent said they did not feel stressed.
Thailand followed with 44 percent of respondents answering "yes," 56 percent answered "no," while 1 percent was undecided.
Cambodia followed with 40 percent answering "yes" and 60 percent "no."
Vietnam had 36 percent "yes" responses and 64 "no" responses.
Meanwhile, Myanmar and Singapore had 32 percent of respondents answering "yes" and 68 percent saying "no."
Respondents in Malaysia answered 25 percent "yes," and 74 percent "no."
Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) recorded 24 percent "yes" responses, with 74 percent no, and 2 percent undecided.
The report revealed that Indonesia is the least stressed in the Southeast Asian region with only 13 percent saying yes, and 87 percent saying no.
Most angry
At the top spot is Lao PDR with 29 percent of respondents saying they have felt anger prior to the survey, and 71 percent saying "no." One percent was undecided.
The Philippines followed with 27 percent saying "yes" and 73 percent saying "no."
Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar each got 20 percent "yes" answers, and 80 percent "no."
Fifteen percent of respondents in Vietnam said "yes" while 85 percent said "no."
Malaysia gathered 13 percent "yes" and 87 percent "no," followed by Singapore with 12 percent "yes" and 88 percent "no."
Saddest countries
Cambodia is the saddest country in the region with 42 percent saying they experienced sadness, and 58 percent saying "no."
It is followed by the Philippines in the second place with 35 percent saying "yes" and 64 percent saying "no."
Vietnam comes in third with 27 percent of respondents saying "yes" and 73 percent saying "no."
Indonesia and Lao PDR tied with 25 percent "yes" responses on the fourth spot.
Lao PDR had 73 percent "no" responses while two percent were undecided. Indonesia had 75 percent "no" responses.
Some 24 percent of respondents in Myanmar said "yes" while 76 percent said "no."
Thailand had 21 percent "yes" and 79 percent "no."
Sixteen percent of respondents in Malaysia said "yes," 83 percent "no," while one percent was undecided.
Aside from being the least angry, Singapore is also the least sad country in the region, according to Gallup, with 11 percent saying they experienced sadness, and 89 percent saying "no."
Not all negative emotions
It is not all grim for Filipinos as the Philippines ranked first for the "learned" and "respect" categories of emotions in the report.
For the "learned" category, respondents were asked: "did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?"
Some 78 percent of Filipinos answered yes, and 22 percent said no.
The Philippines is followed by Thailand (71 percent yes, 28 percent no), Malaysia (56 percent yes, 43 percent no, one percent undecided), Singapore (53 percent yes, 46 percent no), Cambodia (52 percent yes, 47 percent no, one percent undecided), Vietnam (50 percent yes, 48 percent no, two percent undecided), Myanmar (47 percent yes, 53 percent no), and lastly, Lao PDR (45 percent yes, 52 percent no, three percent undecided).
For the "respect" category, respondents were asked: "were you treated with respect all day yesterday?"
Among respondents in the region, Filipinos feel they have been treated with respect with 95 percent answering yes, and only 5 percent answering no.
Indonesia came in second with 93 percent yes, seven percent no, succeeded by Vietnam (92 percent yes, five percent no, three percent undecided), Singapore (92 percent, six percent no, two percent undecided), Malaysia (88 percent yes, 12 percent no), Thailand (85 percent yes, 13 percent no, two percent undecided), Cambodia (79 percent yes, 20 percent no, two percent undecided), Myanmar (75 percent yes, 25 percent no, one percent undecided), and Lao PDR (61 percent yes, 31 percent no, eight percent undecided).
The report also asked respondents if they've experienced other emotions such as worry, pain, enjoyment, well-rested, and smiled.
The results per country for these categories can be viewed via an interactive map on their official website.
Gallup compiles these results per country to form a Positive Experience Index (PEI) and a Negative Experience Index (NEI) that is "the mean of all valid affirmative responses, multiplied by 100."
They "offer an insight on people's daily experiences, and the health of their societies," which cannot be determined solely by economic measures.
The PEI encompasses the following categories: well-rested, respect, learned, smiled, and enjoyed.
Gallup said the PEI scores mostly relate to "perceptions about living standards, personal freedoms and presence of social networks."
For the NEI, experiences with health problems and their ability to afford food mostly determine the results.
There was no available data for East Timor.