Why we need to measure people’s well-being — lessons from a global survey

Flourishing, the state of being happy, healthy, and meaningfully engaged in life, remains under-researched despite its central importance. Gathering global data on such a multifaceted concept is fraught with challenges, including subjective versus objective measures, cultural diversity, translation issues, differing societal values, and methodological limitations like obtaining longitudinal data. The Global Flourishing Study (GFS) aims to address these by collecting data from 200,000 individuals across 22 countries using a comprehensive survey approach, highlighting the need for standardized yet culturally sensitive measures to better understand and improve global well-being.