There is a universal feeling that the “world is changing too fast”.
By Simon Atkinson, “The Optimism Divide” | Chief Knowledge Officer, Ipsos
The world is changing too fast!
And it’s not just a matter of things moving so quickly that we can’t keep track with, people are worried.
According to the most recent Ipsos Mori Global Trends Report, as many as 82% of the world’s population feels we “live in an increasingly dangerous world”. This feeling can be observed across many countries – and it is accelerating.
Such sentiments are held even more widely than they were in the 2014 survey, even as actual violence remains in decline. On the face of it, as well, it’s hard to feel too positive. Looking ahead to the coming year, just 28% feel optimistic about prospects for the world in general.
Among the key findings of the report:
- The world continues to see a shift to urban centres. This is not necessarily to say that rural populations are the ‘left behinds’, but they are certainly gloomier than their counterparts in the big cities.
- Those who are married are more likely to have a sunnier outlook on the world, particularly when compared with those who are coping with divorce or becoming widowed.
- The older you become, the more pessimistic about the future of the world you’ll get – a pattern that is common everywhere, although personal happiness rises in old age.
- Those who say religion matters to them are far more optimistic than atheists and agnostics.
- As we’ve seen, many people are actually positive about how the world is changing. 76% agree that “technology is making our lives better”. Half the world’s population believe that “eventually all medical conditions and diseases will be curable”.
- People are much more positive when they think about their own lives.
Visit the complete report here.
