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

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 longitudinal panel data collection for five years on numerous aspects of flourishing and its determinants. A description of the study, design, survey development, sampling procedures, and participant characteristics is provided. We report relations between a composite flourishing index and numerous demographic characteristics including age, gender, education, marital status, employment, religious affiliation and service attendance, immigration status, and race/ethnicity. We also report results of multivariate regression analyses on how flourishing is associated with numerous aspects of childhood experiences assessed retrospectively. Analyses are presented both through pooled meta-analysis, and individually by country, 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.