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Over the years I’ve worked on a number of indexes trying to assess human wellbeing. These have included the Genuine Progress Index, Human Development Index, etc. Recently a new tool was added to the mix. The inaugural Global Flourishing Study defines flourishing as, “living in a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good.” Researchers measure global human flourishing across six domains including happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability.
The multi-year collaborative research study is being carried out by the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, Gallup, and the Center for Open Science.
After years of collaboration and surveying more than 200,000 research participants from numerous countries, comprising 20+ geographically and culturally diverse populations, researchers just released the first wave of data. Here are some of the interesting topline findings.
Unexpected Findings in Human Flourishing: The study saw that many middle-income developing countries were doing better in terms of meaning, purpose and relationships than the richer developed world. Countries like Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines fared particularly well while other nearby countries like Japan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom did not.
Younger Generations Lagging: The study revealed that younger people appear to be not doing as well as older people when compared to the generations that came before them. Flourishing tends to increase with age in many countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Many in the youngest age-group (18-24 year-olds) reported the lowest. The difference between young and old flourishing is most pronounced in the United States. In most countries mental health is a flourishing deficit for young people and a surplus or at least net neutral for older people.
Spirituality is a Common Contributor: Across almost all countries, religious/spiritual service attendance appears to be an important element related to flourishing, with especially strong associations even in the most secular societies.
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