Americans are more angry now than a generation ago, particularly younger Americans, the latest IBM Watson Health-NPR Health Poll found.
The results vary, though, whether the respondents were talking about others or themselves, as 84% found other Americans are angrier now than before, while just 42% believe they themselves were more angry now.
The findings suggest some health issues to come for Americans.
"I think of anger as a health risk," vice president and chief health information officer at IBM Watson Health Dr. Anil Jain told NPR. "The fact that the survey showed that we have a generation of Americans who believe that they are more angry than they were a generation ago tells me that this is going to lead to some consequences from a health point of view."
The source of the anger can be up to debate, but the news is a factor, as 71% say the news at least sometimes make them angry. Also, 90% say they were more likely to express their anger via social media.
Among the poll results:
- 29% were often angry checking the news.
- 42% said the news sometimes made them angry.
- Only 21% of seniors were angry checking the news.
- 38% of people younger than 35 were angry checking the news.
The results depicted here represent responses from 3,004 survey participants interviewed from Nov. 1-14, 2018. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.