The Shape of Joy: Findings from Waves 1 and 2 of the Global Flourishing Study

Yesterday, the Global Flourishing Study made the data from Wave 1 and Wave 2 from their project available to the public. The dataset includes approximately 200,000 participants, across 22 countries, surveyed across six domains of flourishing, and with a longitudinal design.

To date, some of the headline findings from the Study are, quoting from the GFS press release:

Young people are struggling. Across countries, younger adults now report lower well-being than older populations. In many nations, the 18-to-24 age group reported the lowest flourishing scores...

The development paradox. One of the study’s most provocative findings is a negative relationship between a nation’s wealth and its citizens’ reported sense of meaning and purpose. Economic progress, it turns out, does not automatically translate into lives that feel meaningful...

Faith communities and flourishing. Across diverse cultures, religious participation emerged as one of the strongest predictors of overall well-being. The finding held even in highly secular societies, suggesting that faith communities cultivate something essential to human thriving that warrants serious attention from researchers and policymakers alike.

I bring the Global Flourishing Study to your attention to make the point that the GFS findings are tracing the shape of joy. As I describe in the book, transcendence is good for your mental health, an association that has been, as I put it, one of the best kept secrets in psychology. Truly, The Shape of Joy is one of the few books in this genre that makes this connection explicit, and works to explain why as it cites the research along the way. But thanks to research like that of the Global Flourishing Study, the secret is slowly starting to get out.