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Global Flourishing Study: A Collaborative Inquiry into Human Well-Being

Written by Pat Heffernan | Apr 30, 2025 11:45:00 PM

I was thrilled to watch the Global Flourishing Study (GFS) announcement video earlier today, April 30, 2025. This collaborative, multi-year effort across 22 countries compiles and provides open-source data access on the human condition. The study's purpose is to inform policies and practices that promote global well-being. (My kind of ambitious thinking!)

In the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), flourishing is defined as:

"living in a state in which all aspects of a person's life are good," encompassing both objective and subjective well-being. This includes positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, as well as physical and mental health, character and virtue, and financial stability.” 

The six domains of flourishing are: 1) happiness and life satisfaction, 2) mental and physical health, 3) meaning and purpose, 4) character and virtue, 5) close social relationships, and 6) financial and material stability. 

There will be a lot of GFS follow up news and research. We will keep you posted!

Resources Worth Exploring

GFS Launch: April 30, 2025 – Harvard University

Global Flourishing Study

Center for Open Science – GFS

Understanding Flourishing: Developing a Global Community of Practice – Baylor University [pdf]

Announcement video on YouTube