# The Emotional Recession: 166 Countries Just Confirmed We're Getting Worse at Being Human Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-deductionist-podcast-1101750/the-emotional-recession-166-countries-just-confirmed-we-re-getting-worse-at-being-human Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-deductionist-podcast-1101750/the-emotional-recession-166-countries-just-confirmed-we-re-getting-worse-at-being-human.md Podcast: [The Deductionist Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-deductionist-podcast-1101750) Published: 2026-03-13T09:43:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.omniscient-insights.com/podcasts/the-deductionist-podcast/episodes/2149178623 Audio file: https://app.kajabi.com/podcasts/medias/2149178623.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-deductionist-podcast-1101750/episodes/the-emotional-recession-166-countries-just-confirmed-we-re-getting-worse-at-being-human Duration seconds: 1956 ## Resource A 2025 peer-reviewed study published in Frontiers in Psychology surveyed 28,000 adults across 166 countries,  and found that global emotional intelligence scores have dropped by nearly 6% since 2019. That's the same window we normalised remote work, survived a pandemic, and rebranded burnout as a "wellness issue." In this episode, we're calling it what it is: an emotional recession,  and it might be more dangerous than any financial one. We break down: What a 6% EQ drop actually looks like in real life (in leadership, relationships, and your workplace) Why low-EQ leaders don't produce more rational decisions β€” they produce worse ones dressed up in confidence The burnout loop nobody's diagnosing: did burnout cause the EQ decline, or did EQ decline cause the burnout? Why living in the most emotionally expressive era in history doesn't mean we understand our emotions How emotional literacy, mirror neurons, and BrenΓ© Brown's "emotional granularity" connect to everything And the one daily habit that can actually start reversing this, no app required If you've ever felt like something's off,  in your team, your relationships, or just how people treat each other β€” this episode might be why. πŸ“Œ Be curious, not judgmental. β€” Walt Whitman (via Ted Lasso) Subscribe so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Friday. Access the free tier or go deeper with exclusive paid challenges: https://www.omniscient-insights.com/axiom https://www.omniscient-insights.com/community-home MERCH -- https://the-deductionist.myspreadshop.co.uk/all E-SCAPE GAME -- https://www.youtube.com/@thedeductionistteam Everything else you need -- https://linktr.ee/bencardall Music provided by https://robertjohncollinsmusic.com/` #sherlock #deduction #mystery ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-deductionist-podcast-1101750/episodes/the-emotional-recession-166-countries-just-confirmed-we-re-getting-worse-at-being-human/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-deductionist-podcast-1101750/the-emotional-recession-166-countries-just-confirmed-we-re-getting-worse-at-being-human.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.