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A brief update on open data, global research, public engagement, and the next phase of the world’s largest longitudinal study of human flourishing When the Global Flourishing Study launched, it was already ambitious in scale: a five-year longitudinal study of more than 200,000 people across 22 geographically and culturally diverse countries, designed to better understand what helps people and societies flourish. Receive Tyler's monthly insight and research updates from the Human Flourishing Program team. But the Global Flourishing Study was never intended to be only one publication, one dataset, or one launch event. It was designed as a long-term research resource: a way to study human flourishing across cultures, across time, and across many dimensions of life, including happiness, health, meaning, character, relationships, material stability, community, and more. 22 countries are being studied in the GFS. One year after the public launch of the first wave of findings, that broader vision is beginning to take shape. The study has already generated a large body of scholarship, made major datasets available for use by researchers around the world, contributed to public conversations about the future of well-being, and opened up new possibilities for understanding flourishing not only through survey data, but through in-depth interviews that will capture participants’ own descriptions of their lives. A new global research resource One of the most important goals of the Global Flourishing Study is open science. The study is not only producing findings from its core research team. It is also creating a public data resource for independent scholars, journalists, educators, policymakers, and other researchers interested in understanding human flourishing. Data from Waves 1, 2, and 3 are now available through the Center for Open Science, along with supporting materials to help researchers understand and use the data responsibly. These resources include codebooks, methodology reports, survey documentation, translation materials, preregistration guidance, and other tools that make the study more accessible and transparent. This matters because flourishing is not a narrow topic. It cannot be understood fully through one discipline, one country, one cultural context, or one kind of outcome. The Global Flourishing Study includes questions related to many aspects of human life, from mental and physical health to meaning and purpose, relationships, character, financial security, religious and spiritual life, childhood experiences, social support, and civic and political context. By making these data available, the study creates an infrastructure for many more questions to be asked. Researchers can examine how different aspects of life relate to one another, how patterns vary across countries, and how changes over time may shape later well-being. Research output has already exceeded expectations The study has also generated a substantial body of academic work. To date, the core team has published 85 papers on the Global Flourishing Study, most of them using Wave 1 data. Many of these papers are part of the Nature-Springer Special Collection, which already includes 67 papers and continues to grow. This publication record is significant for several reasons. First, it shows that the study is not a single research article, but a large-scale platform for sustained scholarship. Second, the papers cover many different topics, reflecting the multidimensional nature of flourishing. Third, the research has been made broadly accessible through open access publication wherever possible. The work is continuing. In addition to the papers already published, at least 75 further papers have been submitted to journals by the team. Additional papers are also being produced by researchers outside the core team, using Global Flourishing Study data to examine new questions and contexts. In other words, the study is already doing what it was designed to do: generating a field of inquiry around flourishing that extends beyond any one research group. Researchers are using the data Open data only matters if people use it. Early signs suggest strong engagement. As of May 20, 2026, shortly after Wave 1 and Wave 2 data were made publicly available, the Global Flourishing Study data had already been downloaded over five hundred times. Wave 3 data, which require preregistration, had been sent to over one hundred preregistrations. The Global Flourishing Study Registry also shows substantial use. It includes over three hundred preregistrations, with many linked to data, code, preprints, or publications. This kind of structure helps support more transparent research practices by connecting proposed analyses with the data and outputs that follow. For a study of this scale, that kind of early uptake is important. It means the Global Flourishing Study is beginning to function not only as a set of findings, but as a shared research platform. The findings have entered public conversation The Global Flourishing Study has also reached audiences beyond academia. Since the April 2025 launch event at Gallup headquarters, the study has received nearly 4,000 mentions across print, online, and broadcast media, including more than 1,400 media articles and two pieces in The New York Times. The study’s public-facing platforms have also seen strong engagement. The Global Flourishing Study website has had over 15,000 users this past year, and the main trailer video has received more than 328,000 views on YouTube. Global Flourishing Study content has also performed strongly on LinkedIn, including posts that have reached hundreds of thousands of impressions. This kind of public attention is encouraging, but it also brings responsibility. Flourishing is a topic people care about deeply, and the public conversation around it can easily become simplistic. The study’s contribution is to bring better evidence to that conversation. It invites more careful questions: What does it mean for a society to flourish? Why might some countries do better in one domain of life but worse in another? Why are younger adults struggling in many countries? How do meaning, relationships, religion, work, family, education, health, and economic security interact over time? What can longitudinal evidence tell us that cross-sectional studies cannot? The value of the Global Flourishing Study is not that it offers one simple answer. Its value is that it gives researchers, leaders, and communities a richer way to ask better questions. A more complete picture of flourishing One of the central insights behind the study is that well-being cannot be reduced to a single measure. Life satisfaction matters, but it is not the whole of flourishing. Income and financial security matter, but they do not capture everything people need to live well. Mental health matters, but flourishing also includes meaning, relationships, character, physical health, and the broader contexts in which people live. The Global Flourishing Study is helping make this multidimensional view more visible. In many countries, young adults are struggling not only with mental health, but also across other aspects of flourishing. At the same time, the data suggest that economically developed countries do not always score highest on dimensions such as meaning, relationships, or character. These findings complicate familiar assumptions about progress and well-being. They also point to the need for a broader public conversation. If societies measure only economic growth, they may miss other important aspects of human life. If they measure only happiness or life evaluation, they may miss meaning, relationships, and virtue. If they focus only on problems, they may fail to understand the conditions that help people live well. The Global Flourishing Study offers a wider lens. What comes next The next phase of the study will continue to deepen this work. Researchers are now analyzing and writing papers using Wave 2 and Wave 3 data, with many more publications expected. Wave 4 data collection and future analyses will further strengthen the study’s ability to examine changes in flourishing over time. The team is also developing new ways of understanding flourishing beyond standard survey responses. One emerging effort will use AI-assisted in-depth interviews with approximately 3,000 Global Flourishing Study participants in the United States. This approach will allow researchers to connect quantitative data with participants’ own descriptions of their lives, giving a richer picture of what flourishing means in practice. Similar smaller efforts are also being explored in Sweden and Japan. Another public-facing effort is a Global Flourishing Study documentary. In May 2026, a film crew traveled to Sweden with the GFS project manager to interview people about flourishing and their lives in Sweden. Additional interviews are planned, with the goal of developing a short documentary film for a future Wave 2/3 launch event, and the possibility of a longer documentary series. These next steps reflect a larger point: the study is still unfolding. The first wave gave an initial picture. Later waves will allow researchers to ask stronger questions about change over time, possible determinants of flourishing, and how patterns differ across countries and cultures. Why this matters The Global Flourishing Study is built around a simple but far-reaching premise: what we measure shapes what we notice, what we study, what we discuss, and what we try to improve. If we want to better understand human life, we need better ways to measure more of what matters. We need data on health, but also meaning. We need data on financial security, but also relationships. We need data on individuals, but also the communities and contexts in which they live. We need evidence from many countries and cultures, not only from a narrow set of high-income societies. The Global Flourishing Study is helping build that foundation. Its early progress suggests that the study is becoming what its founders hoped it would be: a global resource for understanding the conditions under which people and societies flourish. That work is still in progress. But the first stage has already made one thing clear: a richer science of human flourishing is now possible. Receive Tyler's monthly insight and research updates from the Human Flourishing Program team.

For more information about the initiative, contact Dr. Jonathan Teubner at: jteubner@fas.harvard.edu and Dr. Keyun Ruan at: keyun@fas.harvard.edu Technology, at its best, is a tool crafted and deployed by human beings for human beings. However, modern digital and AI-driven technologies are often accepted as autonomous forces shaping society according to their own internal logic, independent of human values, cultural norms, and ethical considerations. This mistaken assumption —entertained by both tech optimists and tech pessimists—ignores the fundamental truth that technology is deeply embedded in human contexts. In partnership with the Happiness Foundation, this initiative seeks to re-embed technology within a rich understanding of human flourishing, ensuring AI is developed and deployed in service of individuals and communities rather than as a self-perpetuating system. Building on three initial projects—Humanity in the Digital Age, HumanConnection AI, and Flourishing Economics—we are expanding our focus to integrate AI’s impact across six interrelated dimensions of flourishing: Planetary Well-being – Ensure AI contributes to a healthy planetary ecosystem that can sustain species and populations today and in the future. Physical and Mental Well-being – Evaluate AI's role in emotional resilience, stress reduction, and public health. Financial and Material Well-being – Address AI's influence (both positive and negative) on employment, economic inequality, and financial security. Relational Well-being – Ensure AI is built to strengthen human relationships rather than substitute artificial interactions. Community Well-being – Ensure public, political and democratic participation of key decisions of AI development, especially when it comes to issues such as data privacy, data usage and equal access. Spiritual Well-being – Engineer AI applications to support meaningful work and leisure rather than eroding them that are aligned with ethical behavior and moral responsibility. By situating AI within this broader framework, we reject AI determinism—the notion that artificial intelligence is an inevitable, independent force shaping our social and economic future. Instead, we affirm that AI remains a human-directed tool that must be intentionally oriented toward human flourishing and the common good. Our framework for shaping and evaluating the impact of AI technologies on human flourishing is summarized in a 2026 paper, Flourishing Considerations for AI. We seek to challenge the view that sees technology in a self-contained sphere, running on its own rails and shaping society according to its own dictates. Instead, we argue that technology is not a self-sufficient entity, but rather a set of tools that must remain subordinate to the goals, norms, and cultural values that humans choose to prioritize and pursue. Far from being an autonomous force, technology is deeply contextual, and we advocate for a comprehensive re-embedding of technological progress within a rich understanding of human society and purpose. -The Common Good in the Age of AI, Jonathan D. Teubner, Richard Wood, Ian Marcus Corbin Read More: Grandeur of Humanity in the Age of AI. Brendan Case and Tyler VanderWeele. The Human Flourishing Blog and Newsletter. Can We Remain Human in the Age of AI? Tyler VanderWeele. The Human Flourishing Blog and Newsletter. VanderWeele, T. J. & Teubner, J. (2026). Flourishing Considerations for AI. Information 17(1), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/info17010088. Teubner, J. (2025, October 15). Chatbots and the Divine: What people may really be seeking in their relationships with devices. Web Features, The Hedgehog Review. Ruan, K., & Bremen, J. (2025, April 16). How human-focused economics can reduce AI risk. Jonathan D. Teubner, Ph.D. is a Research Associate at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and Co-Founder of FilterLabs, a data analytics company that leverages artificial intelligence to source high-quality localized data in hard-to-reach regions of the world. Dr. Teubner received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) and has held fellowships at Yale University, the University of Virginia, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Keyun Ruan, Ph.D. leads Risk Economics at Alphabet-Google and is the Founder of Happiness Foundation, a charitable think tank at the intersection of technology, happiness and human flourishing. Dr. Ruan earned her Ph.D in Computer Science from University College Dublin and has served as a Visiting Professor at New York University. For more information about the initiative, contact Dr. Jonathan Teubner at: jteubner@fas.harvard.edu and Dr. Keyun Ruan at: ruankeyun@gmail.com

If you’re interested in working with us or learning more about this opportunity, please fill out this short form. Schools aspire to support students character skills and well-being and yet often have only anecdotal evidence to show the effectiveness of their efforts. If schools and educational systems aim to contribute to student development in these areas, it is important for them to assess the progress that students are making in these other areas beyond traditional academic achievement measures. In work originally commissioned by the OECD, Tyler VanderWeele and Christina Hinton have put forward a three-pillar framework for assessment in Metrics for education for flourishing: A framework (2024). These pillars are: 1) current flourishing, 2) academic attainment, and 3) social-emotional and character-based capacities. Each pillar can be assessed at the individual level, to see whether students and members of the educational community are flourishing individually and at the school or school system level to measure where there is adequate systems level support in these areas. To learn more about this work, see Dr VanderWeele's post on Education for Flourishing. Flourishing Schools Project Brochure from the Human Flourishing Program. At the Human Flourishing Program, we have launched our Flourishing in Schools Survey, which includes measures for student flourishing, character skills, cognitive and epistemic virtues, community well-being, and questions about school support for these areas. This survey has been piloted in collaboration with Scots College in Sydney, Australia, and similar approaches were used previously in our work with Research Schools International. The results from the survey provide insights into each school’s strengths and areas for growth in supporting students’ character skills and flourishing. For example, it yields results on the groups that are flourishing or may need more support, what character skills are strong and those which have room for growth, and the degree to which each school is implementing evidence-based programming for fostering character skills and flourishing. We invite networks of schools who wish to run the Flourishing in Schools Survey with their students to join the Flourishing Data Collaborative. Networks that participate in the survey will receive a report of their results and gain network and school-level insights about student character skills and flourishing. We encourage school networks to participate in the survey repeatedly to track and support students' character skills and flourishing over time. Launch Webinar, May 2026 More information is also available in our Flourishing Schools Project brochure. The best way to begin working with us is by filling out this short form. If you have a unique question, you can write to Dr. Christina Hinton at christina_hinton@g.harvard.edu or flourishingschools@fas.harvard.edu VanderWeele, T. J., and Hinton, C. (2024). Metrics for education for flourishing: A framework. International Journal of Wellbeing, 14(1), 1–35. Kristjánsson, K. and VanderWeele, T.J. (2025). The proper scope of education for flourishing. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 59:634-650. Upcoming Events Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified of upcoming events.

In this commentary, Tucker Sigourney, a postdoctoral fellow at the Human Flourishing Program, reflects on ideas developed in his recent paper in the European Journal of Philosophy. What does it mean to love a person as a unique individual rather than simply for their qualities, roles, or relationships? Love is an extremely personal thing. I don’t mean that it’s no one else’s business—I mean that it is something which makes you acutely aware of another person. My love for my daughter, for example, is meticulous in its search for the good in her. I see how she considers what to do about other toddlers on the playground, the little movements of her eyes as she looks into mine, and so on. And as she grows, it feels to me like something in her is unfolding, coming through in all these delightful little flickers of light. It feels, in other words, like my daughter is some exquisitely crafted and utterly unique sort of thing, down to her very core, which I am gradually seeing better—and that that is what my love for her is primarily about. Philosophers are alive to this experience, even increasingly so. Many recent investigations into the nature of love, and how to make sense of it, try to give due credit to the particular individual person whom you love. The purpose of my paper, though, is to suggest that only a certain kind of view can do it well. I call that kind of view ‘particularist’. A particularist view maintains that the foremost reason to love someone is who she is—not her traits or categories or relationship to you, but simply who she is, full stop. But what does that mean? What is this thing, “who a person is”, to which love responds? Edith Stein suggests that it’s an “individual nature”: a particular variation on human nature, just as collie is a particular variation on dog, but specific to each person. I find that picture beautiful, and true to life. Anyone who has loved someone knows that love helps us better understand the ones we love, ourselves, even human nature in general. I don’t think that truth is only for poets. It can help guide our philosophy too. Learn more about the Human Flourishing Program's work on love.

Participate in the Academic Flourishing Initiative Colleges and universities put forward grand aspirations through their mission and vision statements. The founding mission of Stanford University is “to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization.” Harvard College places social leadership at the center of its aim stating that its mission is “to educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society.” These kinds of aspirations are noble, but leaders of these institutions can substantially improve progress toward the goals described in their mission statements through proper measurement and management. Academic Flourishing Brochure from the Human Flourishing Program. In 2025, The Human Flourishing Program introduced a 24-item student formation assessment designed to survey university students and evaluate their experience of university life as it relates to academic flourishing, to supplement more general flourishing assessments, and to more adequately evaluate progress towards the aspirations put forward by colleges and universities. The student formation assessment evaluates student perceptions of the university's contribution to their own growth in wisdom, leadership, critical thinking, capacity to positively change the world, or to work across differences. The hope of the academic flourishing assessment is to help measure progress toward what is often present in college and universities vision and mission statements, which typically aspire to transform students into intellectually capable and virtuous leaders of society. Introduction to the Academic Flourishing Initiative Pursuant to that goal, the Human Flourishing Program has launched the Academic Flourishing Initiative to catalyze a movement of colleges and universities dedicated to flourishing. The Initiative has three distinct goals: Carry out new research on academic flourishing Improve university leaders' ability to influence and promote student flourishing Advance a community of practice in higher education oriented toward human flourishing The initiative is a member-sponsored research collaborative in which colleges and universities participate in the collaborative by conducting campus-wide research on student flourishing using the student formation survey and other flourishing assessments on their campuses. The data collected on these various items will help college and university leaders understand what is and what is not going well at their institutions and what improvements might be made, and will hopefully eventually lead to significant research concerning university life on the factors that may influence flourishing in educational environments. Early insights are already emerging as the Human Flourishing Program conducted campus wide research at UNC Chapel Hill in 2024 and a subset of the student formation assessment was included in the Wall Street Journal's 2025 Survey of U.S. Colleges and Universities. We have reported some of the initial results of this work in a Harvard Crimson op-ed, and the work was also recently covered by LearningWell and Inside Higher Ed and in our own write-up in Psychology Today. Members of the Academic Flourishing Initiative will gain unique research insights and access to conferences, webinars, events, and research tools produced by the Human Flourishing Program on these topics. More information is available in our academic flourishing brochure and brief two-page description. More details on the theoretical motivation for this work is given in: VanderWeele, T.J., & Case, B. (2025). Academic flourishing and student formation. International Journal of Wellbeing, 15(2), 5003, 1-29. See also recent coverage in Inside Higher Ed and LearningWell. We invite colleges and universities throughout the world to join us. See also our Flourishing Schools Project for work on the promotion of flourishing in K-12 education. FAQ What makes the Academic Flourishing Initiative unique? The Academic Flourishing Initiative was conceived with one clear purpose: to give colleges and universities data that could help them guide their students and campuses toward greater flourishing and student formation. Our goal is to provide research that cuts through the noise and removes guesswork around the elusive concepts that are valued in principle – but too often neglected in practice – by institutions of higher learning. What exactly is the Flourishing Data Collaborative? The Flourishing Data Collaborative is the central data collection and research production engine at the Human Flourishing Program. It is a research consortium made up of participating members that support ongoing research into academic flourishing in a genuine community of practice. What is the cost? The cost to participate as a member for the 2025-2026 academic year in the Data Collaborative is $10,000 per institution. What do members get? Members will receive a link to the Academic Flourishing Survey, hosted by HFH, for use in on-campus data collection. HFH will receive and analyze those data, and will return a research report to campus leadership that provides a summary of the findings (with scores broken down by student year and along demographic lines), guides to interpretation, and benchmarking for some indicators against norms at other institutions. Membership in the Data Collective also includes the right to publish the results of the report for any non-commercial purpose. Members also receive invitations to exclusive conferences and events and access to resources published within the Data Collaborative community. Can institutions pre-pay for multiple years of membership in the collaborative? Yes, because colleges and universities may prefer to see the impact of their work on the lifecycle of a student from matriculation to graduation, membership can be renewed annually or pre-established for multiple years. When does data collection happen? Data collection will take place spring of 2026 so that freshman students will have had at least one semester of college life. The Data Collaborative will provide guidance on strategies for maximizing response rates. Can graduate and professional schools participate in the Data Collaborative? Yes, the initiative encompasses institutions at the graduate level. Membership in the Data Collaborative is at the school-wide level, thus sub-units such as concentrations, cohorts, or career tracks will not be eligible. Please write to us to inquire about cost of membership for graduate and professional schools in the collaborative. What data is being used and shared? All survey responses collected from the Academic Flourishing Survey are deidentified and anonymous. The Flourishing Data Collaborative houses a database that compiles data collected from participating members. The program retains the right to publish deidentified analyses and research from data in the collective dataset. More information about data use and security can be found in the data use agreement. Where can I find the data use agreement? You can download a copy of the data use agreement under the "resources" tab on this page. It is provided during the registration process for the Data Collaborative and you can also write to academicflourishing@fas.harvard.edu Can I participate in this work if I am not part of an institution in the collaborative? Yes, individuals, scholars, and professors at universities who are interested in this work can participate by referring university leaders to the Data Collaborative, requesting invitations to events, working with Human Flourishing Program staff on publication and dissemination efforts, and writing about the results of our work. Upcoming Events Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified of upcoming events. Resources Academic Flourishing Brochure from the Human Flourishing Program. Data Collaborative Invitation Letter. Member Data Use Agreement. Data Collaborative Sample Report.

A peer network for people translating research, ideas, and institutional work into public understanding, visibility, and impact. Communicators for the Common Good is a small, informal network for professionals responsible for communications, marketing, media, growth, and public engagement at organizations working in research, philanthropy, human flourishing, and related areas. We meet virtually three times per year to share what is working, learn from one another, and identify opportunities for collaboration and cross-promotion. The group is free to join and is headed by Isaiah Baldissera, who leads communications at the Human Flourishing Program. This is an informal peer network, not a formal Harvard program, endorsement, or partnership. Sign up below and we'll be in touch shortly.

The Global Flourishing Study is a collaboration of researchers from universities and institutions across 25 countries and six continents, bringing together expertise from fields including public health, psychology, sociology, economics, education, medicine, philosophy, theology, and statistics. This international community of scholars is working together to better understand the factors that shape human flourishing around the world. Their research draws on data from more than 200,000 participants across 22 countries and has already generated a substantial and growing body of publications on topics such as happiness, health, meaning and purpose, character, relationships, financial well-being, community participation, religion, hope, trust, and social connection. Learn more about how the Global Flourishing Study has become a shared resource for researchers worldwide, and explore the growing body of findings in our Global Flourishing Study Research Publications collection. Researchers Jule Adriaans (Bielefeld University) Adibe Aaron Agbo (University of Nigeria, Nigeria) Eric Y. Aglozo (Arizona State University) Kelly-Ann Allen (Monash University, Australia) Ahmet Atil Asici (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey) Caroline Bartel (University of Texas at Austin) Jessica Benfer (Wisconsin Lutheran College) Piotr Bialowolski (Kozminski University, Poland) Nora H. Bittár (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden) Rebecca Bonhag (Baylor University) Matt Bradshaw (Baylor University) Thomas Breedlove (Baylor University) Jet Uy Buenconsejo (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong) Ayse Burcin Baskurt (University of East London, UK) Erik W. Carter (Baylor University) Brendan Case (Harvard University) Manas Chattopadhyay (Gallup) Job Chen (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) Ying Chen (Harvard University) Nathan Hussaini Chiroma (Africa College of Theology, Rwanda) Caleb A. Chung (Harvard University) Manuel Cebral-Loureda (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) Joo Hee Choi (Seoul National University, South Korea) William J. Chopik (Michigan State University) Eunice Contreras (University of Asia and the Pacific, The Philippines) Alicia Cortright (Wisconsin Lutheran College) Thierry Y. Coulibaly (Kyushu University, Japan) Victor Counted (Regent University) Richard G. Cowden (Harvard University) Steve Crabtree (Gartner) Malgorzata Cwil (Kozminski University, Poland) Andrzej Cwynar (University of Rzeszow, Poland) Micael Dahlen (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden) Jan Delhey (RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau) Paul Dolan (London School of Economics) Pedro A. de la Rosa (University of Navarra, Spain) David Dinwoodie (Center for Creative Leadership) Johannes Eichstaedt (Stanford University) Cynthia English (Gallup) Chris Felton (Harvard University) Verónica Fernández Espinosa (Francisco de Vitoria University, Spain) Miguel Ángel Rumayor Fernández (Universidad Panamericana, Mexico) Alex Fogleman (Baylor University) Micah Kaats (Harvard University) Johannes H. De Kock (New Craigs Psychiatric Hospital, UK) Kuba Krys (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland) Angelina Wilson Fadiji (South Africa University) Fernando Garzon (Regents University) Ying Han (Gallup) Claudia Hofheinz Giacomoni, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) Cristina Gibson (Pepperdine University) David M. Goodman (Boston University) Juliane Piasseschi de Bernardin Gonçalves (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) Kaymarlin Govender (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) Nikolitsa Grigoropoulou (University of Bremen) Craig Gundersen (Baylor University) Jeffrey A. Hanson (New College of Florida) William Hathaway (Regent University) John F. Helliwell (University of British Columbia, Canada) Hans J. Hendriks (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) Arturo Fitz Herbert (Universidad Austral, Argentina) Alberto Hernández-Baqueiro (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) Maria S. Hershey (Harvard University) Christina Hinton (Harvard University) Andrew D. Ho (Harvard University) Cassie Mogilner Holmes (UCLA) Jan Höltge (Dalhousie University, Canada) John Honohan (Gallup) Hanchao Hou (Tsinghua University, China) Lanxi Huang (University of Melbourne, Australia) Yoshiki Ishikawa (Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation) Katherine Jackson-Meyer (Harvard University) Ducel Jean-Berluche (University of Texas) Kathryn A. Johnson (Arizona State University) Sung Joon Jang (Baylor University) Aaron Jarden (Edith Cowan University, Australia) Mohsen Joshanloo (Keimyung University, South Korea) Petri Kajonius (Lund University, Sweden) Shanmukh Kamble (Karnatak University, India) Blake Victor Kent (Westmont College) Peggy Kern (University of Melbourne, Australia) Todd Kettler (Baylor University) Eric S. Kim (University of British Columbia, Canada) Young-Il Kim (George Fox University) Alexander Kirchner-Häusler (Kyoto University, Japan) John Kiweewa (Fairfield University) Oscar Kjell (Lund University, Sweden) Hayami Koga (Harvard University) Stephanie Koning (University of Nevada) Wahyuni Kristinawati (Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana) Laura D. Kubzansky (Harvard University) Ni Made Taganing Kurniati (Gunadarma University, Indonesia) Elizabeth Kwon (Baylor University) Junhye Kwon (Seoul National University, South Korea) Margie E. Lachman (Brandeis University) Noémie Le Pertel (Harvard University) Megan F. Lee (Bond University, Australia) Matthew T. Lee (Baylor University) Jeff Levin (Baylor University) Chung Gun Lee (Seoul National University, South Korea) Tim Lomas (Harvard University) Katelyn N. G. Long (Harvard University) Ángel Gustavo López-Montiel (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) Dan Loton, University of Melbourne, Australia) Giancarlo Lucchetti (Federal University of Juiz de Fora) Lucia Macchia (City St George's, University of London) Christos A. Makridis (Arizona State University) Shunsuke Managi (Kyushu University, Japan) Miguel Ángel Martínez-González (University of Navarra, Spain) Colin Mayer (Oxford University) Belén Mesurado (Universidad Austral, Argentina) Daniel Miezah (University of Cape Coast, Ghana) Keziah Yankey Miezah (University of Cape Coast, Ghana) Jordan W. Moon (Arizona State University) Alexander Moreira-Almeida (Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil) Ahmed Moustafa (Bond University, Australia) Jovel O. Nabia (Philippine Statistics Authority; Philippines) Shahed Nalla (University of Johannesburg, South Africa) Julia S. Nakamura (Harvard University) Mirjam Nathanson (Uppsala Universitet, Sweden) Jean Natividade (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Brazil) August Håkan Nilsson (Oslo Metropolitan University) Nicholas Norman-Krause (Belmont University) Lindsay Oades (University of Melbourne, Australia) Chukwuemeka N. Okafor (University of Texas) Sakurako S. Okuzono (Harvard University) Uchechukwu Levi Osuagwu (Western Sydney University, Australia) Fernanda Ortega (Global Solutions Initiative, Germany) Isabel Ortiz-Marcos (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain) Suzanne T. Ouyang (Harvard University) R. Noah Padgett (Harvard University) Joonha Park (Kyoto University, Japan) Jason Paltzer (Wisconsin Lutheran College) Vikram Patel (Harvard University) James O. Pawelski (University of Pennslyvania) Anjana Gauri Pendyala (Amity University Mumbai, India) Alan Piper (Leeds University, UK) Emily Purcell (Regents University) Dona Eka Putri (Universitas Gunadarma, Indonesia) Tayyab Rashid (Values in Action Institute on Character) Zain Rashid (McMaster University) Eric Rimm (Harvard University) James L. Ritchie-Dunham (University of Texas) Zacc Ritter (Gallup) Maike Ritzer (Universität Greifswald, Germany) Miguel Ruiz-Canela (University of Navarra, Spain) Byron R. Johnson (Baylor University) Sebastian Sattler (Bielefeld University, Germany) Carsten Sauer (Bielefeld University) Willem J. Schoeman (North-West University, South Africa) H. Andrew Schwartz (Stony Brook University) Koichiro Shiba (Boston University) Kokoro Shirai (Osaka University) Deborah Skinstad (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) Dennis Snower (Oxford University) Celine Socrates (University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines) Aleefia Somji (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) Vicente Soriano (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja) Rajesh Srinivasan (Gallup) John Ssozi (Baylor University) Leonie C. Steckermeier (RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau) Sho Takano (Skym consulting) Midori Takayama (Keio University) Enrique Tamés-Muñoz (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) Estefanía Toledo (University of Navarra, Spain) Dwight C. K. Tse (University of Strathclyde) Yukiko Uchida (Kyoto University, Japan) Tyler J. VanderWeele (Harvard University) Homero Vallada (Universidade de São Paulo) Claudia E. Vanney (Universidad Austral, Argentina) Maria Vasilj (University of Navarra, Spain) Elena Vazquez-Moreno (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja) Mahimna Vyas (University of Bolton, UK) James Walsh (The Agency Fund, Berkeley) Meg A. Warren (University of Washington) Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska (Harvard University) Renae Wilkinson (Harvard University) Charlotte V. O. Witvliet (Belmont University) Robert D. Woodberry (Baylor University) Jennifer Susan Wortham (Harvard University) Everett L. Worthington Jr. (Virginia Commonwealth University) Ni Made Swasti Wulanyani (Universitas Udayana) Jia-Qi Xu (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) Ayse Yemiscigil (Fordham University) George Yancey (Baylor University) Anna Zalewska (SWPS University, Poland) Michela Zambelli (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy) Maggie Yue Zhao (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) Wang Zheng (East China Normal University) Anita Zulkaida (Gunadarma University)

Researchers from 25 countries participated in the Global Flourishing Study. The Global Flourishing Study is generating a substantial body of research on human flourishing across cultures, countries, and dimensions of life. The publications below show the breadth of questions made possible by this global dataset. Papers have appeared in leading and widely read journals including Nature, Nature Mental Health, Nature Human Behaviour, Scientific Reports, Communications Medicine, BMC Global and Public Health, Social Science & Medicine, European Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of Happiness Studies, and the International Journal of Wellbeing. Together, this work examines many of the central domains of flourishing, including happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability. The publications also extend into related areas such as religion and spirituality, community participation, childhood experiences, suffering, hope, forgiveness, social trust, belonging, physical activity, pain, and country-specific patterns of flourishing. Taken as a whole, this growing publication record reflects the larger purpose of the Global Flourishing Study: to create a shared research resource for understanding what helps people and societies flourish across many different cultural contexts. Learn more about the researchers behind the Global Flourishing Study and read our overview, The Global Flourishing Study Is Now a Global Resource. Published research Aglozo, E. Y., Johnson, K. A., Case, B., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in belief in God, gods, or spiritual forces in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 13302. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79103-w Bialowolski, P., Makridis, C. A., Bradshaw, M., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Gundersen, C., Le Pertel, N., Gibson, C., Jang, S. J., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Analysis of demographic variation and childhood correlates of financial well-being across 22 countries. Nature Human Behaviour, (9), 917–932. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02207-4 Bittár, N., Håkan Nilsson, A. H., Dahlen, D., Nathanson, M., Kajonius, P. J., Kjell, O., Lomas, T., Case, B., Padgett, R. N., Chen, Y., Cowden, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Sweden: Great overall — but not for all. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(15). https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.6001 Bradshaw, M., Counted, V., Lomas, T., Woodberry, R. D., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). Childhood experiences and adult prayer or meditation in 22 countries around the world. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 15083. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99796-x Bradshaw, M., Kent, B. V., Levin, J., Wortham, J. S., Pertel, N. Le, VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). Demographic variation in self-rated physical health across 22 countries: findings from the Global Flourishing Study. BMC Global and Public Health, 3(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00141-1 Bradshaw, M., Kent, B. V., Wortham, J. S., Le Pertel, N., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2026). Childhood experiences and adult self-rated physical health in 22 countries. BMC Global and Public Health, 4(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-026-00253-2 Bradshaw, M., Shiba, K., Jang, S. J., Kent, B. V., Bonhag, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Demographic variation in symptoms of depression and anxiety across 22 Global Flourishing Study countries. Communications Medicine, 6(1), 100. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-01366-9 Buenconsejo, J. U., Contreras, E., Nabia, J. O., Socrates, M. C. A., Case, B., Lomas, T., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in the Philippines: Country-specific insights from the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(15). https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.6247 Chen, Y., Case, B. W., Long, K. N. G., Woodberry, R., Kim, E. S., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood experiences and adult community participation in secular and religious contexts in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 40289. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-24020-9 Chen, Y., Case, B. W., Long, K. N. G., Woodberry, R. D., Kim, E. S., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Community participation in secular and religious contexts across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 39251. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-22806-5 Chen, Z. J., Cowden, R. G., Moreira-Almeida, A., Breedlove, T., Kent, B. V., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood predictors of belief in life after death across 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 13300. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-91615-7 Chen, Z. J., Cowden, R. G., Moreira-Almeida, A., Breedlove, T., Kent, B. V., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Sociodemographic variations of belief in life after death across 22 Countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14310. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83541-x Chen, Y., Kubzansky, L. D., Kim, E. S., Koga, H., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Wilkinson, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). The distribution of optimism across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14553. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77257-1 Chen, Y., Kubzansky, L. D., Kim, E. S., Koga, H., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Wilkinson, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). When the glass is half full: early life experiences and adult optimism in 22 countries. Npj Mental Health Research, 4(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-024-00109-3 Chen, Y., Kim, E. S., Nakamura, J. S., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Wilkinson, R., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Early life experiences and adult orientation to promote good in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 20983. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03343-7 Chen, Y., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Kim, E. S., Nakamura, J. S., Hanson, J. A., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Variations in character involving an orientation to promote good across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14552. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83539-5 Counted, V., Allen, K.-A., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Variations in belonging across 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2569083 Counted, V., Allen, K.-A., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). The roots of belonging: Childhood predictors of belonging in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 30215. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14410-4 Counted, V., Long, K. N. G., Cowden, R. G., Witvliet, C. V. O., Gibson, C., Cortright, A., Walsh, J., Purcell, E., Garzon, F., Hathaway, W., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Seeds of hope: Cross-national analysis of childhood predictors of hope in 22 countries. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 20(3), 1111–1137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-025-10450-0 Counted, V., Long, K. N. G., Cowden, R. G., Witvliet, C. V. O., Gibson, C., Cortright, A., Purcell, E., Walsh, J., Hathaway, W., Garzon, F., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Where hope thrives: Demographic variation in hope across 22 countries. Journal of Happiness Studies, 27(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00981-6 Counted, V., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Cowden, R. G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood antecedents of adult place satisfaction in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 24831. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00731-x Cowden, R. G., Chen, Z. J., Wilkinson, R., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Breedlove, T., Gundersen, C., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). A cross-national analysis of sociodemographic variation in suffering across 22 countries. Communications Medicine, 5(1), 144. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-00859-x Cowden, R. G., Chen, Z. J., Wilkinson, R., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Breedlove, T., Gundersen, C., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025b). Childhood predictors of suffering in adulthood across 22 countries. Communications Medicine, 5(1), 217. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-00913-8 Cowden, R. G., Skinstad, D., Lomas, T., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2024). Measuring wellbeing in the Global Flourishing Study: Insights from a cross-national analysis of cognitive interviews from 22 countries. Quality & Quantity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-024-01947-1 Cowden, R. G., Wilson Fadiji, A., Govender, K., Hendriks, H. J., Schoeman, W. J., Case, B., Chen, Y., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Flourishing in South Africa: Benchmarks and sociodemographic variation across 69 health, wellbeing, and related factors in the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, 15(3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.5237 Cowden, R. G., Worthington, E. L., Chung, C. A., De Kock, J. H., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Yancey, G., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Sociodemographic variation in dispositional forgivingness: a cross-national analysis with 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 12144. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82502-8 Cowden, R. G., Worthington, E. L., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Yancey, G., Witvliet, C. V. O., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood predictors of dispositional forgivingness in adulthood: A cross-national analysis with 22 countries. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-025-10451-z Cowden, R.G., Padgett, R.N., Felton, C., Wilkinson, R., Macchia, L., Chen, Z.J., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Koning, S., Gundersen, C., Johnson, B.R., and VanderWeele, T.J. (2026). Longitudinal associations of suffering with subsequent multidimensional well-being in the Global Flourishing Study. Communications Medicine, in press. Cowden, R. G., Worthington, E. L., Padgett, R. N., Felton, C., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Wilkinson, R., Jackson-Meyer, K., Chen, Z. J., Bradshaw, M., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Longitudinal associations of dispositional forgivingness with multidimensional well-being: a two-wave outcome-wide analysis in the Global Flourishing Study. Npj Mental Health Research, 5(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-026-00187-5 de la Rosa, P. A., Jang, S. J., Paltzer, J., Okafor, C. N., Bradshaw, M., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Demographic variation in weekly alcohol use across countries in the Global Flourishing Study. Communications Medicine, 6(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-01346-z Gonçalves, J. P. de B., Natividade, J., Lucchetti, G., Vallada, H., Giacomoni, C., Cowden, R., Chen, Y., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Brazil: Health and well-being insights from the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, in press. Huang, L., Xu, J., Zhao, M. Y., Hou, H., Jarden, A., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Case, B., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Hong Kong: An analysis of wellbeing-related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(15), 6119. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.6119 Jang, S. J., de la Rosa, P. A., Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in daily smoking across 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14324. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76318-9 Jang, S. J., de la Rosa, P. A., Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). A cross-national analysis of childhood predictors of daily smoking in adulthood. Communications Medicine, 5(1), 292. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-01005-3 Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2022). The Global Flourishing Study: A New Era for the Study of Well-Being. International Bulletin of Mission Research, 46(2), 272–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393211068096 Johnson, K. A., Moon, J. W., VanderWeele, T. J., Schnitker, S., & Johnson, B. R. (2024). Assessing religion and spirituality in a cross-cultural sample: Development of religion and spirituality items for the Global Flourishing Study. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 14(4), 345–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2023.2217245 Kim, E. S., Bradshaw, M., Chen, Y., Chopik, W. J., Okuzono, S. S., Wilkinson, R., Padgett, R. N., Lachman, M. E., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Characterizing the childhood roots of adult sense of mastery across 22 countries in the global flourishing study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 18520. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03045-0 Kim, Y.I., Jang, S.J., VanderWeele, T.J., and Johnson, B.R. (2026). A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in perceived social trust across 22 countries. Scientific Reports, in press. Kim, E. S., Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., Chen, Y., Chopik, W. J., Okuzono, S., Wilkinson, R., Lachman, M. E., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 29904. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15304-1 Kim, E. S., Bradshaw, M., Noah Padgett, R., Chen, Y., Shiba, K., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Case, B. W., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Identifying childhood correlates of adult purpose and meaning across 22 countries (Global Flourishing Study). Npj Mental Health Research, 4(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00127-9 Kim, Y.-I., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). Childhood predictors of perceptions of social trust across 22 countries in the global flourishing study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14358. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78201-z Kirchner-Häusler, A., Park, J., Joshanloo, M., Takayama, M., Takano, S., Uchida, Y., Okuzono, S. S., Shiba, K., Shirai, K., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Case, B., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). The state of well-being in Japan: A multidimensional examination using data from the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing. In press Kurniati, N. M. T., Cowden, R. G., Putri, D. E., Zulkaida, A., Kristinawati, W., Wulanyani, N. M. S., Eva, N., Chen, Y., Padgett, R. N., Lomas, T., Case, B., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Indonesia: Benchmarks and sociodemographic variation across well-being and related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing. In press. Lee, C. G., Kwon, E., Paltzer, J., Okafor, C. N., VanderWeele, T. J., Johnson, B. R., & Kwon, J. (2025). Comparison of the effects of childhood demographic characteristics on physical activity during adulthood across 22 countries. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 2393. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23430-8 Lee, C. G., Kwon, E., Paltzer, J., Okafor, C. N., VanderWeele, T. J., Johnson, B. R., & Choi, J. H. (2025). Comparison of the relationship between key demographic features and physical activity levels across 22 countries. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 2440. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23594-3 Lee, M. T., Wilkinson, R., Long, K. N. G., Case, B. W., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Bradshaw, M., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Sociodemographic variation and childhood predictors of showing love and care for others in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 1796. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31380-9 Levin, J., Bradshaw, M., Case, B., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2026). Population Estimates of Wellbeing among Israeli Jews: Findings from the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing. In Press Lomas, T., Bradshaw, M., Case, B., Cowden, R., Crabtree, S., English, C., Fogleman, A., Johnson, K. A., Ritter, Z., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). The development of the Global Flourishing Study questionnaire: Charting the evolution of a new 109-item inventory of human flourishing. BMC Global and Public Health, 3(30). https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00139-9 Lomas, T., Koga, H. K., Padgett, N. P., Pawelski, J. O., Kim, E. S., Makridis, C. A., Gundersen, C., Bradshaw, M., Le Pertel, N., Shiba, K., Felton. C., Helliwell, J. F., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Exploring associations of three evaluative subjective wellbeing measures (Cantril’s ladder, life satisfaction, happiness) with 15 childhood and demographic factors across 22 countries. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35777-y Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Case, B., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Introduction to the Global Flourishing Study country-specific special issue. International Journal of Wellbeing, (3), 5103. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.5105 Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Pawelski, J., Makridis, C. A., Pacheco, P. A. d. l. R. F., Kim, Y.-I., Breedlove, T., Cowden, R. G., Counted, V., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). The prevalence and predictors of experiences of beauty in 22 countries: An international assessment of aesthetic appreciation in the Global Flourishing Study. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-025-10532-z Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Lee, M. T., Pawelski, J. O., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025a). A cross-national analysis of the childhood predictors of inner peace in the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83353-z Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Lee, M. T., Pawelski, J. O., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025b). Demographic variation in inner peace across 22 countries: A cross-national analysis of the Global Flourishing Study. Journal of Happiness Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00822-y Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Pawelski, J. O., Nilsson, A. H., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). A longitudinal outcome-wide assessment of the impact of life balance on flourishing: A 2-year cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-47553-z Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Pawelski, J. O., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025a). Childhood predictors of balance in life: A cross-national analysis of the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-89853-w Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Pawelski, J. O., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025b). Demographic variation in balance in life across 22 countries: A cross-national analysis of the Global Flourishing Study. Applied Research in Quality of Life, (20), 1011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-024-10407-9 Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Warren, M. A., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). A cross-sectional analysis of male versus female flourishing among 202,898 participants across 22 countries on 73 variables in the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40963-z Macchia, L., Kaats, M., Johnson, B., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14355. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98421-1 Macchia, L., Okafor, C. N., Breedlove, T., Shiba, K., Piper, A., Johnson, B., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Demographic variation in pain across 22 countries. Communications Medicine, 5(1), 154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-00858-y Macchia, L., Okafor, E., Breedlove, T., Piper, A., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Childhood predictors of physical pain: A cross-national analysis in the Global Flourishing Study. Communications Medicine. In Press Moon, J. W., Johnson, K. A., Case, B., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood predictors of adults’ belief in god, gods, and spiritual forces across 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14819. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98796-1 Nakamura, J. S., Gibson, C. B., Woodberry, R. D., Lee, M. T., Kim, Y.-I., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Understanding who volunteers globally through an examination of demographic variation in volunteering across 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 25299. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05459-2 Nakamura, J. S., Węziak-Białowolska, D., Woodberry, R. D., Kubzansky, L. D., Shiba, K., Padgett, N. P., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Demographic variation in charitable giving and helping across 22 countries: A cross-national analysis. Scientific Reports. Nakamura, J. S., Lee, M. T., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Echoes of compassion in the Global Flourishing Study: Cross-national distributions and predictors of prosociality and loving care. International Journal of Wellbeing, 16(2), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v16i2.5585 Nakamura, J. S., Woodberry, R. D., Gibson, C. B., Lee, M. T., Kim, Y.-I., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood predictors of volunteering across 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14797. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-81639-w Nakamura, J. S., Woodberry, R. D., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Kubzansky, L. D., Shiba, K., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood predictors of charitable giving and helping across 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 14493. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77950-1 Nilsson, A. H., Kajonius, P. J., Kjell, O., Dahlen, M., Schwartz, H. A., Case, B., Johnson, B., Lomas, T., Padgett, N., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Swedish well-being: The rising importance of age among demographic, personality, and social relationship factors. SSM - Population Health, 101913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2026.101913 Okafor, C. N., Jean-Berluche, D., Paltzer, J., Kwon, E., Grigoropoulou, N., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in self-rated mental health across 22 countries. Communications Medicine, 5(1), 320. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025-01038-8 Okuzono, S. S., Cowden, R. G., Padgett, N., Yancey, G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Sociodemographic variation in gratitude using a cross-national analysis with 22 countries. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 10(4), 60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-025-00254-w Ortega, F., Snower, D., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Case, B., Ying, C., Cowden, R. G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Well-being in the United States: Insights from the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing. In Press Ortiz-Marcos,I., Fernández Espinosa, V., I., Rumayor, M., Dinwoodie, D., Ritchie-Dunham, J.L., Case, B., Lomas, T., Padgett, R, N., Johnson, B, R., VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Spain. International Journal of Wellbeing, in press. Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Jang, S. J., Kim, E. S., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Analytic methodology for childhood predictor analyses for wave 1 of the Global Flourishing Study. BMC Global and Public Health, 3(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00142-0 Padgett, R. N., Bradshaw, M., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Jang, S. J., Kim, E. S., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Analytic methodology for demographic variation analyses for wave 1 of the global flourishing study. BMC Global and Public Health, 3(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00140-2 Padgett, R. N., Cowden, R., Chattopadhyay, M., Han, Y., Honohan, J., Ritter, Z., Srinivasan, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Survey sampling design in wave 1 of the Global Flourishing Study. European Journal of Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-024-01167-9 Padgett, R. N., Felton, C., Bradshaw, M., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Kim, E. S., Wilkinson, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Coordinated outcome-wide analytic methodology for multi-wave analyses of the global flourishing study. BMC Global and Public Health, 4(1), 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-026-00287-6 Padgett, R.N. & Felton, C. Case, B. Lomas, T. Johnson, B.R. and VanderWeele, T.J. Life satisfaction is more strongly correlated with flourishing than Cantril’s Ladder. Applied Research in Quality of Life, in press. Padgett, R. N., Le Pertel, N., Hinton, C., Kettler, T., Ho, A. D., Chen, Y., Bradshaw, M., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). A cross-national analysis of sociodemographic variation in educational attainment. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 13870. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87406-9 Paltzer, J., Carter, E. W., Kwon, E., Okafor, C. N., Padgett, R. N., Benfer, J., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). A cross-sectional study of demographic variation in health problem-related limitations in life across 22 countries: a cross-national analysis. BMC Global and Public Health, 3(1), 78. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00190-6 Paltzer, J., Kwon, E., Okafor, C. N., Padgett, R. N., Carter, E. W., Benfer, J., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). Childhood predictors of health limitations in life across 22 countries: a cross-national and cross-sectional analysis. BMC Global and Public Health, 3(1), 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00188-0 Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Yancey, G., Managi, S., Bartel, C., Bonhag, R., Padgett, N., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025a). Demographic variation in social support and intimate friend across 22 countries: A cross-national analysis. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 10(2), 37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-025-00226-0 Ritchie-Dunham, J. L., Yancey, G., Managi, S., Bartel, C., Bonhag, R., Padgett, R. N., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025b). Childhood predictors of social support and intimate friends in a cross-National analysis of the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 25068. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09953-5 Sattler, S., Adriaans, J., Steckermeier, L. C., Sauer, C., Delhey, J., Brendan Case, B., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Chen, Y., Cowden, R. G., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Germany: A comprehensive country-specific analysis of wellbeing-related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing. In Press. Ssozi, J., Kiweewa, J., Norman-Krause, N., Bradshaw, M., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2026). Childhood predictors of political voice across 22 countries in the global flourishing study. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 16765. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46513-x Sung, M., Mattson, S. A., Cowden, R. G., Wilkinson, R., Padgett, R. N., Denckla, C., Shiba, K., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). A cross-national study of demographic variation and childhood predictors of traumatic distress. Communications Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-026-01657-9 Tamés-Muñoz, E., López-Montiel, G., Hernández-Baqueiro, A., Cebral-Loureda, M., Ritchie-Dunham, J., Lomas, T., Case, B., Padgett, R, N., Johnson, B, R., VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in México. International Journal of Wellbeing, in press. VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025a). Multidimensional versus unidimensional approaches to well-being. Nature Human Behavior, 9, 857–863. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02187-5 VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025b). Why we need to measure people’s well-being — lessons from a global survey. Nature, 641(8061), 34–36. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01254-1 VanderWeele, T. J., Johnson, B. R., Bialowolski, P. T., Bonhag, R., Bradshaw, M., Breedlove, T., Case, B., Chen, Y., Chen, Z. J., Counted, V., Cowden, R. G., de la Rosa, P. A., Fogleman, A., Gibson, C., Grigoropoulou, N., Gundersen, C., Jang, S. J., Johnson, K. A., Kim, E. S., … Yancey, G. (2025). The Global Flourishing Study: Study profile and initial results on flourishing. Nature Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00423-5 VanderWeele, T. J., Johnson, B. R., Bradshaw, M., Goodman, D. M., Kubzansky, L. D., Lomas, T., Moreira-Almeida, A., Okafor, C. N., Ouyang, S. T., & Patel, V. (2026). Mental illness, mental health, and mental well-being. Npj Mental Health Research, 5(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-026-00193-7 Vanney, C. E., Mesurado, B., Fitz Herber, A. L., Lomas, T., Case, B., Padgett, R. N., Chen, Y., Cowden, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Argentina: A comprehensive country-specific analysis of wellbeing-related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(15), 5955. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.5955 Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Cwynar, A., Bialowolski, P., Cowden, R. G., Wilkinson, R., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). From hardship to resilience: Childhood financial conditions and adult well-being in WEIRD and less WEIRD countries. Social Science & Medicine, 385, 118622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118622 Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Cowden, R. G., Bialowolski, P., Bradshaw, M., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Childhood predictors of religious reading: A cross-national analysis in the Global Flourishing Study. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 24899. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10142-7 Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Cowden, R. G., Paltzer, J., Bialowolski, P., Bradshaw, M., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Early-Life Predictors of Religious and Spiritual Comfort: A Cross-National Analysis in the Global Flourishing Study. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 21. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 21. Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Bialowolski, P., Cowden, R. G., Fogleman, A., Bradshaw, M., R. Noah, Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Religious reading across borders and demographics: A study of 22 countries. Studia Religiologica, 59(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.4467/20844077SR.26.002.23351 Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Bialowolski, P., Cowden, R. G., Jang, S. J., Bradshaw, M., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Delayed gratification across 22 Countries: A cross-national analysis of demographic variation and childhood predictors. Journal of Research in Personality, 117, 104627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2025.104627 Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Cowden, R. G., Paltzer, J., Bialowolski, P., Bradshaw, M., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Mapping religious and spiritual comfort worldwide: Demographic patterns across 22 countries. Critical Research on Religion. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503032261451246 Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Zalewska, A. M., Krys, K., Case, B., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Understanding well-being in Poland: Insights from the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, 15(3), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.5175 Wilkinson, R., Shiba, K., Gibson, C. B., Okafor, C. N., Chen, Y., Bradshaw, M., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Life course insights into social relationship quality: a cross-national analysis of 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 12096. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86246-x Wilkinson, R., Shiba, K., Gibson, C. B., Okafor, C. N., Chen, Y., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Strangers, friends, and everything between: Sociodemographic variation in social relationship quality across 22 countries. Social Indicators Research, 181(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-025-03743-2 Woodberry, R. D., Bradshaw, M., Vander Weele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). Cross-national variation in faith sharing across religious traditions. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 13299. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83531-z Woodberry, R. D., Johnson, K. A., Case, B., Bradshaw, M., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). Religious centrality across 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 15081. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99183-6 Yemiscigil, A., Baskurt, A. B., Asici, A. A., Lomas, T., Padgett, R. N., Case, B., Chen, Y., Cowden, R., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026). Flourishing in Türkiye: A comprehensive country-specific analysis of wellbeing-related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(15), 5933. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.5933 Zambelli, M., Tse, D. C. K., Cowden, R. G., Höltge, J., Johnson, B. R., Padgett, R. N., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). The psychometric network of individual flourishing across nationally representative samples from 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 30206. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15016-6 Non-peer reviewed papers Padgett, R. N., Felton, C., Johnson, B., & VanderWeele, T. (2025). Rglobalflourishing: An R package for coordinated analyses for the Global Flourishing Study. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/vbype

A new research report shares findings from one of the largest studies of adolescent flourishing in schools ever undertaken, as part of the Human Flourishing Program's Flourishing Schools Project. The Student Flourishing in Australian Christian Schools research project surveyed 22,092 students in Years 7 to 12 across 57 Christian schools in Australia, with 17,295 students participating in the second wave of data collection. The study explored how adolescents are flourishing and which school-based practices are associated with higher student flourishing over time. The survey used the Human Flourishing Program’s Adolescent Flourishing Measure, which includes domains such as happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, social relationships, and safety and security. Several findings stand out: Students who reported feeling loved “very much” by parents or guardians had substantially higher flourishing scores than students who reported feeling loved “very little.” The report also found that flourishing scores were lower among students who reported higher levels of smartphone use, while students who reported more sleep and more physical activity had higher flourishing scores. Click to enlarge. Relationships emerged as a central theme. Longitudinal analyses found that student flourishing scores increased most when students laughed with peers at least once a month, with a 22% increase observed from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Other practices associated with increases in flourishing included a sense of playfulness, activities that strengthen social relationships, teachers’ use of humor in class, and social interactions with teachers and staff. The report also highlights the importance of learning engagement, spiritual formation, service-learning, volunteering, and civic and social engagement in student flourishing. Across the findings, the report points to the importance of schools as relational and formative communities, not only places of academic instruction. Dr. Christina Hinton of Research Schools International and the Human Flourishing Program, along with Dr. Brendan Case of the Human Flourishing Program, also presented key findings from the report in a video conversation. The presentation offers a concise overview of the study’s design, major findings, and implications for school leaders, educators, and families.

For more information, email Kate Jackson-Meyer at kjacksonmeyer@fas.harvard.edu The Flourishing Fellows Program Led by Jonathan Teubner and Kate Jackson-Meyer, the program invites Harvard undergraduates into the work of the Human Flourishing Program through small, semester-long reading groups. Fellows gather alongside program researchers over short, important texts to discuss some of the big questions our research touches on: love, forgiveness, friendship, technology, faith, and what it means to live a good life. Each semester, the Human Flourishing Program offers a slate of reading groups led by faculty and program staff. Groups typically meet three to five times over the course of the semester at our offices in Cambridge. Reading commitments are intentionally modest—a workbook, a novel, a few essays—so that the conversation in the room, not the volume of pre-reading, carries the meeting. There is no application beyond a sign-up form, and there is no cost. Fellows simply commit to showing up and to reading the materials for the groups they join. A path to the Oxford Vivarium Participation in a reading group is also the prerequisite for joining the Human Flourishing Program at the Oxford Vivarium each August—a week of seminars, conversation, and community in Oxford with students and scholars from across the program. Upcoming reading groups Fall 2026: Love Reading Group This reading group will explore love through passages from authors such as Bryan Stevenson, Greg Boyle, and Rev Liz Walker, as well as through engaging activities and reflections that invite students to think of ways to share love in their lives. Spring 2027: Forgiveness Reading Group This reading group invites students to work through the evidence-based REACH Forgiveness Workbook, a workbook of educational, reflective, and embodied exercises. Students will meet to discuss the experience of working through the workbook. Recent reading groups The groups change each semester, shaped by what faculty are working on and what students are eager to discuss. Recent offerings have included: Forgiveness. Working through the evidence-based REACH Forgiveness Workbook alongside the latest empirical research on how forgiveness shapes mental health and flourishing. AI and Social Flourishing. Reading and discussing how social AI is reshaping four central places of human life: family, friendship, work, and religion. Till We Have Faces. A close reading of C. S. Lewis's last novel that delves into issues such as love, self-understanding, and the hiddenness of the divine. Confessions (“Just Show Up” Reading Group). Listening to Augustine's Confessions together over a weekly meal.

Upcoming Events Christianity & Public Health Conference. October 24. Cambridge (in person). Flourishing Fellows student reading group for Harvard undergraduates. Fall 2026 semester (in person). Recent Events Global Summit: Fostering Hope for Children. June 3-5, 2026. Vatican City (in person and virtual). Stay Connected

If you’re interested in learning more about the initiative, please fill out this short form. The Evidence-Based Parenting for Flourishing Families initiative, led by Dr. Christina Hinton, shares key principles from research in child development, psychology, neuroscience, education and parenting, dispels popular parenting myths, and offers evidence-based strategies for common parenting situations and challenges. Research from around the world shows that parenting best promotes holistic wellbeing, including social-emotional development, mental and physical health, and academic learning, when it is characterized by: warmth, structure, and autonomy support (OECD, 2020). Dr. Hinton is writing a book on evidence-informed parenting that is organized around these three key parenting ingredients. This initiative disseminates resources related to these key ingredients and beyond from our Evidence-Based Parenting for Flourishing Families project as well as the work of our expert partners. We seek to build an international community of academics and parents to promote evidence-informed parenting for flourishing globally.