TripAdvisor reveals which nationalities are biggest whingers

British holidaymakers post more positive reviews on TripAdvisor than almost any other nationality, the travel review site revealed today.

It said Britons gave accommodation an average score of 4.1 out of five, higher than most other Europeans.

South Africa tops the list of countries producing the most positive reviews, with an average score of 4.22 out of five, compared with just 3.8 for Malaysians, who gave the worst reviews.

Britons also tend to write some of the most detailed reviews, coming second only to Canadians. On average they write 177 words per review, Canadians write 191 words, while Brazilians are the least specific, writing only 88 words.

Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson, said: "When TripAdvisor was founded, the idea of ‘the wisdom of the crowd’ was still relatively unheard of and there was a fear that people would only want to share their travel horror stories. In fact, our experience over the last twelve years has shown the opposite to be true – people do genuinely want to share their good experiences with the world first and foremost."

Simon Fried, consumer behavioural psychologist, said: "At first it may seem surprising that so many people selflessly contribute for the sake of the common good, but the underlying psychological urges are very strong. In the offline world when we receive a gift or someone does us a favour we are naturally compelled to give back. Now the internet has empowered us to carry this behaviour into the online world.

"Secondly, most of us have an image of ourselves as the sort of person that does the right thing. In order to maintain this image we prove it to ourselves by doing a good deed, such as recommending to others something we have enjoyed ourselves.  Both the need to give back and to maintain a consistent self-image are deep-seated urges."