Poll Puts Britons Among World’s Gloomiest

Britons are among the world’s most dissatisfied, distrustful and pessimistic people, a poll conducted in Britain, Germany, Japan and the United States reported today.

Results of the poll of more than 5,500 people interviewed about their view of the world between March 5 and 11 were published simultaneously in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Germany’s Der Spiegel, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun and the New York Times.

The poll found 85% of Britons were dissatisfied with the general situation of the world, compared to 82% of Germans, 67% of Americans and 66% of Japanese, the Guardian said.

Only 13% of British people were optimistic that things would improve in the next five years, against 16% of Japanese, 18% of Germans and 19% of Americans.