Chinese people have been shown to be almost twice as optimistic about the world as any other nationality, while British people are the fifth most pessimistic, according to a recent survey by YouGov, as reported by China Daily.
YouGov surveyed over 18,000 people from 17 countries and found that 41 percent of Chinese Internet users believe that the world is getting better, four times the global average of 10 percent. In fact, the country's optimism is almost double that of the next most optimistic country, Indonesia, which is at 23 percent.
In most places, there have been significant improvements regarding life expectancy, poverty, democracy, the rule of law and the chance of being killed by another human over the last 200 years. However, 65 percent of British people disagree.
An analysis of over 10,000 British people last year revealed that the world is only getting subjectively better for those who are young, educated and middle class.
Despite being far up on the list of the world's least optimistic countries about the future of the planet, British people are a lot less pessimistic than the French. The survey showed that 81 percent of French Internet users think the world is getting worse, with only 3 percent believing that it is getting better.
The bleak perspective of the French when it comes to the world's future contrasts an increase in French optimism when it comes to the future of the European Union, which YouGov measures monthly with its Eurotrack survey of seven countries.
Research also shows that a higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita does not necessarily increase the optimism of a country. The United States has more than 31 percent more GDP per capita than the United Kingdom, but both countries are equally pessimistic, with 65 percent of respondents believing that the world is getting worse.
Australia, the second most pessimistic country, has almost 20 times more GDP per capita than Indonesia, the second most optimistic country. Only 3 percent of Australian respondents believe the world is getting better.
Eight percent of both Denmark and Finland believe the world is getting better. In Germany and Singapore, the number is 4 percent.