MADRID, SPAIN – While national statistics are released across various domains such as economy, health, and life expectancy, comprehensive attempts to measure individuals' subjective sense of happiness, or well-being levels, have been relatively rare. Amidst this landscape, the largest population well-being study to date has recently announced remarkable initial findings, sparking in-depth discussions about the core elements that constitute a ‘good life.’
Spearheaded by Harvard University and Baylor University, the ‘Global Flourishing Study’ is a pioneering project exploring the determinants of flourishing and well-being across different countries through collaboration with the Open Science Framework and Gallup. Analyzing the impact of 109 variables on over 200,000 respondents across 22 countries (including 6,290 in Spain), this study focuses on identifying universal patterns and regional specificities that influence individuals' well-being levels.
The esteemed academic journal ‘Nature Mental Health’ published a summary of the findings so far (including over 30 papers) last Wednesday. Over the next two years, additional reports will be released, providing in-depth information on various well-being variables and enabling comparative analyses between countries.
Professors Tyler VanderWeele of Harvard University and Byron Johnson of Baylor University, who lead the study, comprehensively analyzed not only objective variables such as age, gender, education level, marital status, employment status, religious affiliation and activity, immigration status, and race/ethnicity, but also subjective factors like meaning and purpose in life, social relationships, and life satisfaction.
Dr. Pedro A. de la Rosa Fernández-Pacheco of the University of Navarra in Spain, a co-author of the study, emphasized in an interview with EFE news agency, "It might seem that this study does not add new information to what is already known, but this is not the case." He explained, "Above all, it updates existing knowledge by reflecting the post-pandemic situation, and it is significant that for some non-Western countries, this is the first in-depth research on these topics."
Declining Trend in Well-being Among Younger Generations
One of the initial key findings of the study is that the correlation between material affluence and social well-being is not uniform across all countries. While countries like Brazil, Australia, and the United States showed a tendency for well-being levels to improve with age, Poland and Tanzania exhibited a decrease in well-being with increasing age.
Although a U-shaped pattern, with high well-being levels in both younger and older age groups, is maintained in some countries like Japan and Kenya, a new trend is emerging overall where well-being levels remain flat until around age 50 and then increase. This particularly suggests that the 18-49 age group, especially in Spain, is experiencing lower levels of well-being compared to previous generations. Dr. de la Rosa noted, "Young Spaniards reported lower levels of flourishing compared to other age groups."
No significant differences in well-being levels were observed based on gender, but in Brazil, men showed higher well-being levels than women, while in Japan, women appeared to flourish more than men.
Overall, the factors most closely associated with well-being or ‘flourishing’ in adulthood were found to be a good relationship with parents in childhood, the absence of experiences of abuse, good health, and a social network that prevents feelings of loneliness. Dr. de la Rosa explained, "In almost all countries, a good relationship with parents in childhood and the absence of abuse were the factors that most influenced well-being in adulthood."
Furthermore, married respondents showed higher levels of well-being than unmarried respondents in most countries, although this trend was not observed in India and Tanzania. People with higher levels of education generally reported higher well-being in most countries, but Hong Kong and Australia showed exceptional results.
Finally, the study found that approximately one-third of all respondents participated in religious activities weekly or more, and this was associated with higher levels of well-being in all countries.
Meanwhile, Spain, along with Germany, was among the countries with the highest weekly alcohol consumption (at least once a week), while Australia was found to be the country with the highest alcohol consumption globally.
Implications for Future Policy Directions
Although the study has limitations, such as not including low-income countries or fully representing the global population in all countries, it includes regional samples based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, and some patterns appear to be universal.
Dr. de la Rosa emphasized the significance of the research, stating, "This study is publicly accessible, and that is a crucial goal. What we measure determines what we talk about and where we set our policy directions. If we start talking more about well-being, perhaps we can start prioritizing it."
The initial findings of this study highlight the importance of establishing customized policies that consider the characteristics of each country and culture, and they underscore the need to develop policies that enhance individuals' subjective happiness and quality of life, going beyond mere economic growth or material affluence. The in-depth analyses to be released in the future are expected to provide a crucial foundation for guiding specific policy directions aimed at promoting well-being in each country.
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