Exploring Emotions and Life Satisfaction in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

From 2009 to 2011, Gallup conducted surveys in over 150 countries to compare how people feel about their lives and what emotions they experience during the day. Based on these surveys, Singapore was considered as the least emotional society (ranked 1st) out of 151 countries surveyed, while the Philippines was named as the most emotional nation (ranked 151st) out of all countries surveyed. Georgia ranked as the 2nd least emotional society after Singapore. Azerbaijan ranked the 15th and Armenia ranked the 38th least emotional nations. This blog explores these findings in comparison to CRRC’s 2011 Caucasus Barometer (CB) survey questions on feelings and life satisfaction in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
In each country, Gallup focused on peoples’ experiences of five positive and five negative emotions. Positive emotions were feeling well-rested, being treated with respect, experiencing enjoyment, smiling and laughing a lot, as well as learning or doing something interesting. Negative emotions included feeling angry, being sad, stressed, or worried, and experiencing physical pain. Gallup then averaged the percentage of people in each country who said they experienced each of the 10 positive and negative emotions. The results show Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan ranking relatively low on emotionality.

Emotional Countries, ChartsBin.com, viewed 6th December, 2012, <http://chartsbin.com/view/9263>

CRRC’s 2011 CB also asked people in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan to describe their feelings, but for specific questions rather than a set of positive and negative emotions that were averaged. 26% of Armenians, 8% of Azerbaijanis, and 13% of Georgians said they experience a general sense of emptiness. In comparison, 48% in Armenia, 66% in Azerbaijan, and 60% in Georgia said that this statement did not describe their feelings.

About half of the population in Armenia (51%) and Georgia (55%) said that they felt happy, followed by just under half of the Azerbaijani population (40%) who also said that they were happy. In turn, 15% of Armenians, 19% of Azerbaijanis, and 12% of Georgians reported feeling unhappy.   

About a third of the population in Armenia (30%), a quarter in Azerbaijan (24%), and over a third in Georgia (36%) said that, all things considered, they were generally satisfied with lives. Somewhat similar percentages indicate that people were unsatisfied in each country. 
In conclusion, Gallup and CRRC reveal somewhat different results in terms of emotional experiences and overall life satisfaction in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. While Gallup measured the average percentage of respondents who reported experiencing any of the 10 negative or positive emotions daily, CRRC took a different approach by focusing on Armenians’, Azerbaijanis’, and Georgians’ general experiences of feeling happy, general life satisfaction, and a general sense of emptiness.
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