Workforce in Wealthy Countries Stressed: Study

People living in wealthy nations are more likely to be stressed and worried than their counterparts from poor countries, according to study.

Various studies have found income levels and socio-economic conditions of country directly impact the state of its public health. Poor nations have high incidence of heart diseases, cancer and diabetes resulting from poor nutrition, lack of medical facilities, income disparity and unhealthy behaviors like tobaccos use, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption. For long, these factors played a key role in determining the overall wellbeing of these countries.

Researchers from the Purdue University have now discovered that majority of working citizens from high income countries including the U.S., despite earning enough, experience too much stress and tend to be angry most of the time.  

For the study, experts assessed income records of more than 830,000 individuals living across 158 countries to observe association between personal income and individual happiness or subjective well-being. The participants were surveyed to note how satiated they were with their lives and often they felt anger, distress and worry.

It was found that participants with high income reported being satisfied with their lives but, they were more likely to remain stressed, disturbed and angry than those earning similar amounts living in low-income countries.

With more income comes work pressure and stress to balance and make right decisions.

"Life in an affluent country is more fast-paced, and there are just so many things that you have to do," Louis Tay, study author and assistant professor of psychology at Purdue University told the Livescience. "You have higher expectations, and more choices available to you, as compared to someone who might be in a poorer country, experiencing a slower pace of life and less demands."

Furthermore, their analysis showed factors like economic stability, national income, crime rates and infrastructure can also influence an individual's happiness. Job-related stress and anxiety affects a considerable size of the working population making them susceptible to psychological illnesses, emotional disturbances, fatigue, memory decline and depression.

 According to the data by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention those who are employed in the service industry constitute 34.2 percent of the workforce who are stressed in the country followed by employees from education and health services.

More information is available online in the journal Psychological Science.