世論 What Japan Thinks

I’m sure many other people like to grab a bit of chocolate as comfort food to cope with the stresses of daily life, and this survey from MyVoice into mood-changing and sweets showed that the Japanese are no different!

Demographics

Over the first five days of March 14,773 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54% were female, 1% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 17% in their fifties.

I rate pretty highly on the stress scale, and I do eat perhaps too much chocolate, especially at work to get me through the afternoon I snack on Petit Bit chocolate, with kinako (soya bean flour) flavour being my favourite at the moment.

Research results

Q1: How stressed do you feel on typical days? (Sample size=14,773)

Completely stressed out	24.4%
A little stressed out	53.9%
Not very stressed out	18.0%
Almost no stress at all	3.8%

Q2: What sort of things make you feel a lot of stress? (Sample size=14,773, multiple answer)

Workplace, school human relationships	50.2%
Money matters	37.9%
Family, children human relationships, family environment	35.6%
Having a busy lifestyle	30.1%
Work, study contents	29.2%
My own health	22.4%
Cooking, cleaning, washing, other daily housework	17.8%
Getting on with parents	14.4%
Relationships with neighbours	11.1%
Job seeking activities, career path	8.7%
Relationships with those of the same sex	8.1%
Relationships with those of the opposite sex (love, etc)	8.1%
Commuting	7.9%
Relationships with friends	7.8%
Caring for parents, grandparents	4.0%
Examinations (self or children)	3.7%
Other	6.5%
Nothing in particular	5.8%
No answer	0.1%

Q3: What one thing makes you feel the most of stress? (Sample size=14,773)

Workplace, school human relationships	28.9%
Family, children human relationships, family environment	12.3%
Money matters	11.6%
Work, study contents	9.6%
Having a busy lifestyle	8.0%
Getting on with parents	3.6%
My own health	3.5%
Cooking, cleaning, washing, other daily housework	2.6%
Relationships with neighbours	1.9%
Job seeking activities, career path	1.8%
Relationships with those of the opposite sex (love, etc)	1.3%
Caring for parents, grandparents	1.3%
Relationships with friends	1.1%
Commuting	1.0%
Relationships with those of the same sex	1.0%
Examinations (self or children)	0.9%
Other	2.6%
Nothing in particular	6.4%
No answer	0.4%

Q4: Do you usually eat sweets? (Sample size=14,773)

Often eat	43.7%
Sometimes eat	40.6%
Don’t eat much	11.1%
Don’t eat at all	4.7%

Q5: When fatigued from exercise, work, study, housework, etc, what sorts of sweets do you eat? (Sample size=14,773, multiple answer)

Chocolate	70.0%
Western-style sweets	34.5%
Potato crisps, other snacks	31.7%
Ice cream	30.8%
Biscuits, cookies	30.2%
Boiled sweets	28.8%
Senbei rice crackers	28.8%
Japanese-style sweets	28.1%
Chewing gum	20.0%
Custard pudding	19.5%
Yoghurt	16.6%
Fruit	15.0%
Cheap pocket-money sweets	13.3%
Jelly	8.3%
Other	2.1%
Don’t eat sweets when fatigued	6.1%
No answer	0.1%

Q6: When irritated, what sorts of sweets do you eat? (Sample size=14,773, multiple answer)

Chocolate	44.1%
Chewing gum	17.0%
Western-style sweets	14.2%
Potato crisps, other snacks	13.7%
Boiled sweets	12.8%
Biscuits, cookies	9.8%
Japanese-style sweets	9.2%
Ice cream	8.8%
Senbei rice crackers	8.3%
Custard pudding	6.0%
Cheap pocket-money sweets	3.6%
Yoghurt	2.7%
Fruit	2.5%
Jelly	1.8%
Other	1.4%
Don’t eat sweets when irritated	24.5%
No answer	0.5%

Q7: When you want to relax, what sorts of sweets do you eat? (Sample size=14,773, multiple answer)

Western-style sweets	38.1%
Chocolate	37.3%
Japanese-style sweets	28.0%
Ice cream	21.2%
Custard pudding	19.1%
Biscuits, cookies	17.6%
Senbei rice crackers	14.7%
Potato crisps, other snacks	13.7%
Fruit	8.8%
Yoghurt	7.7%
Boiled sweets	6.2%
Cheap pocket-money sweets	5.6%
Jelly	5.6%
Chewing gum	4.1%
Other	1.5%
Don’t eat sweets when I want to relax	9.1%
No answer	0.4%