The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing

Tyler J. VanderWeele; Byron R. Johnson; Piotr T. Bialowolski; Rebecca Bonhag; Matt Bradshaw; Thomas Breedlove; Brendan Case; Ying Chen; Zhuo Job Chen; Victor Counted; Richard G. Cowden; Pedro Antonio de la Rosa; Chris Felton; Alex Fogleman; Cristina Gibson; Nikolitsa Grigoropoulou; Craig Gundersen; Sung Joon Jang; Kathryn A. Johnson; Blake Victor Kent; Eric S. Kim; Young Il Kim; Hayami K. Koga; Matthew T. Lee; Noemi Le Pertel; Tim Lomas; Katelyn N.G. Long; Lucía Macchia; Christos A. Makridis; Lesley Markham; Julia S. Nakamura; Nicholas Norman-Krause; Chukwuemeka N. Okafor; Sakurako S. Okuzono; Suzanne T. Ouyang; R. Noah Padgett; Jason Paltzer; James L. Ritchie-Dunham; Zacc Ritter; Koichiro Shiba; Rajesh Srinivasan; John Ssozi; Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska; Renae Wilkinson; Robert D. Woodberry; Jennifer Wortham; George Yancey

doi:10.1038/s44220-025-00423-5

The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing

Tyler J. VanderWeele, Byron R. Johnson, Piotr T. Bialowolski, Rebecca Bonhag, Matt Bradshaw, Thomas Breedlove, Brendan Case, Ying Chen, Zhuo Job Chen, Victor Counted, Richard G. Cowden, Pedro Antonio de la Rosa, Chris Felton, Alex Fogleman, Cristina Gibson, Nikolitsa Grigoropoulou, Craig Gundersen, Sung Joon Jang, Kathryn A. Johnson, Blake Victor KentEric S. Kim, Young Il Kim, Hayami K. Koga, Matthew T. Lee, Noemi Le Pertel, Tim Lomas, Katelyn N.G. Long, Lucía Macchia, Christos A. Makridis, Lesley Markham, Julia S. Nakamura, Nicholas Norman-Krause, Chukwuemeka N. Okafor, Sakurako S. Okuzono, Suzanne T. Ouyang, R. Noah Padgett, Jason Paltzer, James L. Ritchie-Dunham, Zacc Ritter, Koichiro Shiba, Rajesh Srinivasan, John Ssozi, Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, Renae Wilkinson, Robert D. Woodberry, Jennifer Wortham, George Yancey

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Global Flourishing Study is a longitudinal panel study of over 200,000 participants in 22 geographically and culturally diverse countries, spanning all six populated continents, with nationally representative sampling and intended annual survey data collection for 5 years to assess numerous aspects of flourishing and its possible determinants. The study is intended to expand our knowledge of the distribution and determinants of flourishing around the world. Relations between a composite flourishing index and numerous demographic characteristics are reported. Participants were also surveyed about their childhood experiences, which were analyzed to determine their associations with subsequent adult flourishing. Analyses are presented both across and within countries, and discussion is given as to how the demographic and childhood relationships vary by country and which patterns appear to be universal versus culturally specific. Brief comment is also given on the results of a whole series of papers in the Global Flourishing Study Special Collection, employing similar analyses, but with more-specific aspects of well-being. The Global Flourishing Study expands our knowledge of the distribution and determinants of well-being and provides foundational knowledge for the promotion of societal flourishing.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	636-653
Number of pages	18
Journal	Nature Mental Health
Volume	3
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00423-5
State	Published - Jun 2025

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Molecular Medicine
Psychiatry and Mental health
Neuroscience (miscellaneous)
Biological Psychiatry

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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., Felton, C., Fogleman, A., Gibson, C., Grigoropoulou, N., Gundersen, C., Jang, S. J., Johnson, K. A., ... Yancey, G. (2025). The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing. Nature Mental Health, 3(6), 636-653. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00423-5

VanderWeele, TJ, Johnson, BR, Bialowolski, PT, Bonhag, R, Bradshaw, M, Breedlove, T, Case, B, Chen, Y, Chen, ZJ, Counted, V, Cowden, RG, de la Rosa, PA, Felton, C, Fogleman, A, Gibson, C, Grigoropoulou, N, Gundersen, C, Jang, SJ, Johnson, KA, Kent, BV, Kim, ES, Kim, YI, Koga, HK, Lee, MT, Le Pertel, N, Lomas, T, Long, KNG, Macchia, L, Makridis, CA, Markham, L, Nakamura, JS, Norman-Krause, N, Okafor, CN, Okuzono, SS, Ouyang, ST, Padgett, RN, Paltzer, J, Ritchie-Dunham, JL, Ritter, Z, Shiba, K, Srinivasan, R, Ssozi, J, Weziak-Bialowolska, D, Wilkinson, R, Woodberry, RD, Wortham, J & Yancey, G 2025, 'The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing', Nature Mental Health, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 636-653. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00423-5

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The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing

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