Syrians, Iraqis least positive, Latin Americans most positive

Syrians and Iraqis are the world's least positive people and Latin Americans are the most positive, a Gallup global poll released Monday indicated. Gallup measured emotions in 143 countries in 2012 for its Positive Experience Index, asking people whether they experienced enjoyment a lot, felt respected, were well-rested, laughed and smiled a lot, and learned or did something interesting the previous day. Syria and Iraq led the countries with the lowest "yes" responses, with 46 percent and 47 percent, respectively, Gallup said. Adults in Latin American countries had the highest positive emotions, with "yes" responses in the 80-percent range. On average, 73 percent of adults worldwide say they experienced enjoyment "a lot of the [previous] day," the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. Seventy-two percent smiled and laughed a lot, 85 percent said they felt treated with respect, and 71 percent said they felt well-rested. On a regional basis, Latin Americans had the highest positive emotions and people in the Middle East reported the lowest, results of the global poll indicated. Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults in each of 143 countries and regions in 2012. The margin of error for the global sample is less than 1 percentage point. For country-level samples, the margin of error ranges from 1.7 percentage points to 5.3 percentage points.