The world prefers a calm life, but not everyone gets to have one: global trends in valuing and experiencing calmness in the Gallup World Poll

ABSTRACT

Psychology has paid relatively little attention to low arousal positive states like calmness. To remedy this lacuna, this study draws on the most globally comprehensive study to date on calmness (121,207 participants in 116 countries in the 2020 Gallup World Poll), featuring two items asking whether people: (a) prefer a calm life or an exciting life; and (b) experienced calmness yesterday. By intersecting these, we could categorise people in four categories of calmness: satisfied (both prefer and experience it); unwanted (experience calmness but prefer excitement); longed-for (prefer calmness but don’t experience it); and unmissed (neither prefer nor experience it). The results reveal a nuanced picture that challenges certain stereotypes (e.g. calmness had no particular association here with Eastern cultures), and shed new light on this overlooked topic (e.g. poorer people and countries are more likely to prefer calmness yet are less likely to actually experience it).

KEYWORDS:

• Calmness
• low arousal
• cross-cultural
• global
• Gallup

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The research involves data collected by Gallup in their annual World Poll, which was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards established by Gallup.

Consent participants

Informed consent was gained from all participants in the Gallup World Poll.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Wellbeing for Planet Earth [N/A].