Harvard Summit Content Summary: Global Flourishing Study: What Contributes to a Life Well-Lived

The Global Flourishing Study: What Contributes to a Life Well-Lived?

A groundbreaking podcast diving deep into the science of human flourishing, featuring insights from the inaugural wave of the Global Flourishing Study (GFS).

The question of "WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO A LIFE WELL-LIVED?" has long been central to philosophical traditions and religions. Now, social scientists, policymakers, and business leaders are grappling with this question using rigorous, large-scale research. This podcast explores the innovative GFS, a major collaboration between researchers at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and Gallup.

What is Flourishing?We define flourishing as “the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives”, a definition cited in the report by T. J. VanderWeele (2017). A life well-lived is a holistic interplay of multiple dimensions, measured across six core domains: happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability.

A Global, Longitudinal Look at WellbeingThe GFS is unique because it is longitudinal, surveying the same individuals over multiple years, moving beyond correlations to identify factors responsible for greater human flourishing. The inaugural wave includes over 207,000 participants from 22 countries and Hong Kong (S.A.R. of China), representing a wide range of cultural backgrounds and economic development levels.

Key Discoveries and Insights (Based on Initial GFS Findings):

• The Age Effect: Is there a universal pattern to flourishing as we age? The GFS found that the relationship between age and flourishing varies significantly across the globe. While flourishing appears to increase with age in countries like the United States and Sweden, it tends to decline with age in places like India and Tanzania.
• The Mental Health Crisis: Mental health emerges as a key factor in flourishing. In many high-income countries, including the United States, mental health ratings are a flourishing deficit for younger respondents but boost scores among older adults, aligning with recent calls to action regarding youth mental health. For example, the average mental health score for U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 is 5.68, compared to 8.06 for those aged 60 to 69.
• The Power of Community: Regular participation in group activities (religious or civic) is generally associated with greater flourishing. The positive relationship between flourishing and religious service attendance is statistically significant in 21 out of 23 countries and territories. Furthermore, this connection is often stronger than civic participation, and specifically links religious attendance to a larger sense of meaning and purpose.
• The Role of Money: As anticipated, financial and material stability is a strong predictor of the composite flourishing score across all surveyed countries.

Drawing on the work of contributors like Zacc Ritter, Andrew Dugan, Chris Felton, Byron R. Johnson, R. Noah Padgett, and Tyler J. VanderWeele, this podcast delivers evidence-based discoveries to inform policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders invested in creating environments where people can truly flourish.

The Global Flourishing Study is a proprietary research initiative of Gallup, Inc.. Findings cited are drawn from the inaugural wave of data collection.