TOKYO, Oct 1 ― When asked to choose between a quiet life and an exciting life, 75 per cent of people choose the first option, according to a survey conducted across a hundred countries. The authors of the survey believe that experience of living through the pandemic may have played a role in this preference.
“The world prefers a calm life to an exciting life,” is the conclusion that came out of a study conducted by the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation (WPE) in partnership with consulting firm Gallup.
During the year 2020, the Japan-based foundation specialising in well-being surveyed people from 116 different countries and territories (at least 1,000 people surveyed for each country). Their findings indicate that 72 per cent of respondents prefer a calm life while 16 per cent prefer an exciting life and 10 per cent chose both.
The country of Georgia proved to be an exception, as the majority of respondents there chose an exciting life over a calm one. The results from Vietnam-based participants showed no clear preference.
For the remaining 114 countries, individuals largely aim to cultivate a calm life, with a few varying nuances observed according to the region of the globe.
Regional patterns?
In North America, the divide comes down to 75 per cent of people in the US and Canada preferring a calm life and 22 per cent preferring an exciting life. The divide in Western Europe is slightly greater, with 68 per cent of Europeans wanting more tranquillity and 24 per cent wanting a more action-filled existence.
The differences in choosing a calm life don't necessarily follow any regional logic. For instance, at the top of the ranking, with 85 per cent looking for peace and quiet, East Asia is ahead of its Southeast Asian and South Asian neighbours where the rates of embracing calm existences were 68 per cent and 56 per cent respectively. This holds true for Latin America (82 per cent) and North America (75 per cent).
The results should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as the study singles out the pandemic as having “jeopardized public health and created economic turmoil worldwide. These extraordinary circumstances may have made living a calm life a more appealing prospect for many people than it would be otherwise, especially given the ambiguous or complicated good represented by excitement.” ― ETX Studio
