women earn 38% less than men, and 10% more women say they are thriving than men. Any theories? Other fascinating findings from the Arab world : Across the Arab world, men's support for women's equal legal status and right to hold any job they are qualified for was positively linked to men's life evaluations, employment, and other measures of economic and social development. Gallup also found that there is no link between men's support for Sharia as the only source of legislation and antagonism toward equal rights for women.  If the economy continues to suffer, women's rights may as well. This suggests that economic trouble may be a greater threat to women's rights than public support for religious legislation. Now the standard NGO response to reading something 'counterintuitive' -- i.e. we would rather it wasn't true -- is to question the methodology. But unless you really are an ubergeek, I would strongly advise against taking Gallup on. Like I said, they are scary, as is their readiness to get down and dirty on methodology. I recommend an idle wander through gallup.com -- a real treasure trove. The Middle East leads the world in negative emotions -- but how about Somaliland having the lowest level of negatives (maybe just not being Somalia gives you a boost?) Finally, as they talked about measuring anger and rage across the world, I asked the obvious question -- could you have predicted the Arab Spring? There answer was 'not yet' -- 'we know when something