What does it mean to live a good life?
Across centuries and cultures, answers vary – but most agree it’s more than just feeling good.
A truly good life is about becoming whole.
Today, researchers call this state “flourishing”, a concept rooted in Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia and now defined by wellbeing science as a multidimensional experience involving happiness, relationships, purpose, and health.
Flourishing extends beyond inner wellbeing to include external factors – like community, relationships and environment.
That’s the focus of the Global Flourishing Study, a five-year research project involving over 200,000 participants from 22 countries. Led by psychologists, social scientists, and epidemiologists, the study seeks to understand who is flourishing, where, and why.
Working with Gallup Inc., researchers surveyed people about their lives, asking about six key dimensions of flourishing:
- Happiness and life satisfaction
- Physical and mental health
- Meaning and purpose
- Character and virtue
- Close relationships
- Financial and material stability
Results are measured on a 0-10 scale using tools like Harvard’s Secure Flourish measure. Additional questions assessed optimism, trust, loneliness and resilience.
Findings reveal stark differences across age groups, regions, and lifestyles. Contrary to earlier beliefs that wellbeing bottoms out in middle age, the study found that in many countries, young people were struggling the most – reporting mental health challenges, financial stress, and a loss of meaning.
Married individuals and those with steady work reported higher levels of flourishing.
Regular attendance at religious services also correlated with higher wellbeing across nearly all countries – linking to what psychologists call the “four Bs”: belonging, bonding, behaving, and believing.
However, religious participants sometimes also reported higher levels of pain, possibly reflecting the support-seeking nature of faith communities during hard times.
Interestingly, a difficult childhood doesn’t guarantee poor outcomes.
In countries like the US and Argentina, adults who faced early hardship often reported strong purpose and resilience later in life.
When comparing countries, Indonesia emerged as a top performer, with high scores in meaning, character, and social connection.
Mexico and the Philippines also ranked high despite lower income levels, likely due to strong community and spiritual bonds.
In contrast, wealthier nations like Japan and Sweden scored lower on relational and emotional wellbeing, highlighting that financial stability alone doesn’t guarantee flourishing.
Authors: Victor Counted, Associate Professor of Psychology, Regent University; Byron R. Johnson Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University; Tyler J. VanderWeele Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard University
Extracts from theconversation.com.au
