- Most people feel socially supported, according to newly released findings from Meta-Gallup’s report on the Global State of Social Connections.
- Feeling socially supported has real-life consequences.
- People who felt very cared for by others reported lower levels of stress than those that didn’t.
Supportive relationships play a big role in how people handle life’s ups and downs.
Luckily, most people across the planet feel socially supported, according to newly released findings from Meta-Gallup’s report on the Global State of Social Connections.
The findings show that seven out of 10 people feel very and fairly supported in their daily lives.
Meanwhile, nearly one out of every 10 people said they did not feel supported at all.
About 143,600 people across 142 countries took part in the survey last year, which defined social support as “how much you feel cared for by people.”
People living in high-income countries were more likely to feel supported, the survey found.
Most people — 81 percent — in high-income countries said they feel very or fairly supported while about half — 48 percent — living in low-income nations said the same.
“Social networks are especially crucial in the face of financial challenges, when people may be less likely to have other types of safety nets,” a Gallup article on the survey’s findings said.
“However, financial challenges may limit people’s ability to give back to one another and support each other.”
The survey found that being supported had other real-life consequences that go beyond finances.
People who feel cared for by others are less likely to experience daily physical pain and stress, survey findings show.
In the survey, 71 percent of people who said they felt very supported said they did not experience stress a lot the day before the survey.
And as people’s level of support decreased, their level of stress increased.
People who did not feel support at all were the most likely to report feeling stress.
Out of people who said they did not feel like they had any support, 51 percent said they felt stress for a lot of the day prior to when they took part in the survey.
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