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AP-Times Square poll: Most Americans say 2015 was worse for the world than last year

Associated Press
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FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2015, file photo, rescue workers gather near victims in the 10th district of Paris. Mass shootings and attacks weighed heavily on the minds of Americans in 2015, according to a new poll that found most believe this year was worse for the world than last year. The Nov. 13, attacks in Paris were cited as one of the most important events in 2015. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2015, file photo, a woman is being evacuated from the Bataclan concert hall after a shooting in Paris. In a poll conducted by the Associated Press and the Times Square Alliance, 64 percent of those polled believe the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish market, then the Bataclan concert hall and other city sites, were among the very or extremely important news events of 2015. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2015, file photo, authorities search an area following a shooting that killed multiple people at a social services center in San Bernardino, Calif. A poll conducted by the Associated Press and the Times Square Alliance, 68 percent listed mass shootings in the U.S. like the one in San Bernardino, as very or extremely important news events. (James Quigg/The Victor Valley Daily Press via AP, File) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

A new poll that found most believe this year was worse for the world than last year reveals mass shootings and attacks weighed heavily on the minds of Americans in 2015.

The Associated Press-Times Square Alliance poll found the most important events to Americans in the past year were the shootings in San Bernardino, California, plus shootings in South Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee.

Close behind came the Paris attacks and Islamic State group atrocities.

Americans also are much less likely than they were a year ago to believe that the current year was better for the United States — only 17 percent compared with 30 percent a year ago.

The poll of 1,020 adults was conducted online Dec. 11-13, with a 3 percentage point margin of sampling error.