On Human Flourishing
Dr. Martin Seligman, widely regarded as one of the founders of Positive Psychology, articulates the core mission of the field in his influential book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. He writes, “The topic of positive psychology is well-being, and the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing. The goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing.”
Seligman’s theory of flourishing is built on five foundational pillars, often abbreviated as PERMA:
Positive Emotions
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Achievement
Together, these components form a holistic framework for understanding what it means to live a truly good life—one marked not only by happiness, but by depth, purpose, and well-being.
Check out this website featuring Dr. Seligman: Authentic Happiness
The science of Human Flourishing
The science of human flourishing is rapidly expanding. A notable example is the Global Flourishing Study (GFS)—a five-year longitudinal research initiative co-led by Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program and Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. According to Harvard scholar Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, “Flourishing itself might be understood as a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good.”
The Global Flourishing Study is gathering data from more than 200,000 people across 20+ countries, making it one of the most comprehensive studies of human well-being to date. The research focuses on six key domains of flourishing:
Happiness and life satisfaction
Mental and physical health
Meaning and purpose
Character and virtue
Close social relationships
Material and financial stability
Key Findings from the Global Flourishing Study
A recent article published in Christianity Today on May 1, 2025, titled “Measuring the Good Life: New Global Data Shows What Makes for a Flourishing Life—It Isn’t What We Think,” highlighted the first wave of findings. Authored by Brendan Case, Kaetlyn Long, Tyler VanderWeele, and Byron Johnson, the article presents insights that challenge conventional wisdom about well-being:
Higher GDP doesn’t guarantee higher flourishing.
Countries like the U.S. and Japan, despite their wealth, report lower levels of flourishing compared to lower-income nations such as Indonesia and Tanzania.True flourishing goes beyond financial security.
It encompasses purpose, meaningful relationships, character, and mental well-being.Religious participation matters.
People who attend church regularly report higher levels of happiness, meaning, and social connectedness.Young people are struggling.
Compared to older generations, younger adults report lower levels of flourishing—possibly due to the effects of modern technology, social media, and cultural disconnection.Low-income nations excel in meaning and connection.
While wealthier countries score higher in financial well-being and education, less affluent nations often lead in areas like purpose, virtue, and interpersonal relationships.
These findings pose critical questions: Can economic development be pursued without undermining social and spiritual well-being? What role should faith-based organizations play in promoting true flourishing? The study also suggests that secular nations may struggle more with meaning and connection—highlighting the vital role that religious and spiritual communities can play in fostering holistic well-being.
For a more detailed scientific version of the first wave of findings check out the 30 April 2025 article in Nature Mental Health article The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing.
More about Dr. Tyler Vanderweele and Human Flourishing
Dr. Tyler J. VanderWeele is a prominent scholar and professor at Harvard University, where he serves as the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also the director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, which focuses on understanding and promoting human well-being across multiple dimensions.
Key Areas of His Expertise:
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Causal Inference and Methodology
Human Flourishing and Well-being
Religion and Health
Public Health Ethics
Dr. VanderWeele is especially well known for his interdisciplinary work at the intersection of public health, philosophy, psychology, and theology, making major contributions to how human flourishing is studied and applied in both academic and practical contexts.
Notable Contributions:
He helped define a multidimensional framework of human flourishing, which includes six domains: happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial/material stability.
He is a co-leader of the Global Flourishing Study, a five-year longitudinal research project in collaboration with Baylor University, aimed at understanding the conditions under which individuals and societies flourish.
He has authored several influential books and articles, including:
"Measuring Well-Being: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from the Social Sciences and the Humanities"
"Explanation in Causal Inference: Methods for Mediation and Interaction"
Dr. VanderWeele's work is respected not only for its methodological rigor but also for bridging scientific research with deeper philosophical, theological and moral questions about what it means to live a good life.
I became aware of Dr. Vanderweele’s work through his seminal article On the Promotion of Human Flourishing. In addition, I delivered a brief webinar On Human Flourishing that is based on this article and other research I have read. During this webinar I asked participates to self-administer Dr. Vanderweele’s Flourishing Measure. Furthermore, Dr. Vanderweele is a committed Christian and published amazing book which is open access and downloadable A Theology of Health: Wholeness and Human Flourishing.
References
Case, B., Long K., Vanderweele T., & Johnson, B. 3 May 2025, Christianity Today.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. New York: Free Press (p. 13).
Vanderweele, Tyler (2017), On the promotion of human flourishing, PNAS, Vol 114, No 31.
Vanderweele, Tyler, et. al. (2025), The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing, Open Access Nature Mental Health, 30 April 2025.
