Money and Self-Pressure are the Leading Major Causes of Stress Internationally

PR62447

NUREMBERG, Germany, Nov. 25 / PRNewswire=KYODO JBN / --

With the pressure of Christmas shopping already underway, GfK has released

findings from a 22-country survey looking at the major causes of stress in

people's daily lives. Money, self-pressure and lack of sleep are the top three

major causes of stress internationally. Latin American countries stand out for

'threat of crime' appearing in their top five major causes of stress, while

France is the only country where 'children' appear in the top five. Japan and

Germany are most free of major stress causes.

    The online study, which was conducted this summer, asked over 27,000

consumers to identify major causes of stress from a given list. Overall, almost

three in ten (29 percent) people cite the amount of money that they have to

live on, making this the leading major cause of stress internationally. This is

followed by the pressure that people put upon themselves (27 percent), not

getting enough sleep (23 percent) and not having time for the things they want

to (22 percent). The amount of work people have to get done in the day (cited

by 19 percent) comes next, completing the top five most common major causes of

stress internationally.

    Japan and Germany relatively free of major stress

    The good news is that, overall, three in ten people (30 percent) are

relatively stress-free, saying none of the list count as a major cause of

stress for them (although many rate them as minor causes of stress). This is

led by Japan, where nearly a half of respondents (48 percent) say none of the

items listed are a major cause of stress, followed by Germany at 44 percent and

then the Netherlands and Hong Kong level at 37 percent. The other end of the

scale is held by Turkey, where only one in ten (10 percent) make this claim,

followed by Argentina (12 percent) and Mexico (13 percent).

    Top five major causes of stress change with age

    When looking at different age groups, people aged between 15 and 39

register the same five factors as their leading major causes of stress -

although the order differs for each age group. From 40 years old, people

increasingly perceive the amount of work they have to do in the day as less of

a major stress factor, and worries about health appear in their top five major

causes of stress instead. For those aged 50 and over, taking care of a family

member who is ill, elderly, or has other needs or problems appears for the

first time in their top five major causes of stress. And people over 60 stop

seeing the pressure they put on themselves as a top five stress factor anymore,

and this is overtaken (but only by a small margin) by worry over threats from

the outside world, such as natural disasters or terrorism.

    National differences in causes of stress

    Internationally, only 14 percent of people (13 percent of men and 15

percent of women) see the threat of crime as a major cause of stress. But in

Latin American countries this increases dramatically to 41 percent in

Argentina, 39 percent in Brazil and 36 percent in Mexico - making it into the

top five major causes of stress within each country. In addition, the gender

gap over this issue increases significantly in Latin America, compared to the

international average, with women in these countries an average of 10

percentage points ahead of men in seeing the treat of crime as a major cause of

stress.

    A similar situation is seen for those people agreeing that their children

are a major cause of stress. The international average for this is 14 percent -

but, in Turkey and France, this more than doubles to 31 percent and 30 percent

respectively. However, it would be wrong to assume that this means that

perceived stress caused by children is equal in both countries. In France, the

vote of 30 percent puts 'children' into the top five major causes of stress for

that country, whereas, in Turkey, their vote of 31 percent actually means that

children come last as a major cause of stress, behind the 13 other items lists

that all won higher percentages within that country.

    For more information on GfK's international research into people's

attitudes and behavior, please contact press@gfk.com

    About the study

    GfK conducted an online survey with over 27,000 consumers aged 15 or older

in 22 countries. Fieldwork was carried out over the summer 2015 and the data

have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the online

population age 15+ in each market. Countries included are Argentina, Australia,

Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong,

Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden,

Turkey, UK and USA.

    Contact

    Amanda Martin, +44-7919-624-688, press@gfk.com

    Stefan Gerhardt, +49-911-395-4440, press@gfk.com

    SOURCE: GfK