"It turns out we're not all better off when we're just isolated in our own spaces... we're behind screens all the time."
Hanne LeCount
"What we know is that if GDP rises, it doesn't necessarily mean people's lives got better. If you build a prison in the middle of a community, GDP will rise. But it doesn't necessarily mean that people's lives got better."
Jon Clifton
"The economic measures of wellbeing do not necessarily correlate with what you might call social and moral or humanistic shapers of wellbeing."
Timothy Dalrymple
Key Takeaways
Economic Growth ≠ Human Flourishing: The study reveals that economic measures of wellbeing do not necessarily correlate with social, moral, and humanistic shapers of wellbeing. As Jon Clifton noted, GDP growth doesn’t automatically mean people’s lives improve – building a prison in a community raises GDP but doesn’t enhance wellbeing.
Religious Community Participation Drives Wellbeing: Religious service attendance is consistently linked with higher levels of wellbeing across all 22 countries studied. This isn’t necessarily about belief systems but about the bonding agent for families, neighborhoods, and communities that provides a cohesive sense of purpose and meaning.
The U-Curve of Happiness is Breaking: A concerning trend shows that young people aren’t rating their lives as highly as they used to. The traditional U-curve (high satisfaction in youth, dip in middle age, rise in later years) is bending in the wrong direction, particularly affecting younger generations.
Middle-Income Countries Lead in Full-Spectrum Flourishing: Surprisingly, countries like Mexico, the Philippines, and Indonesia are showing the highest ratings of full-spectrum flourishing, outperforming economically advanced nations. This suggests that economic development doesn’t guarantee comprehensive wellbeing.
Data Gaps Hinder Progress: 60% of SDG indicators in Africa have no data due to funding constraints. This creates a situation where world leaders are operating in the dark without essential information about their populations’ wellbeing.
Action Items
For Policymakers: Move beyond GDP as the sole measure of societal progress by investing in comprehensive wellbeing data and creating pathways for younger generations to find spiritual meaning and community connection.
For Organizations and Communities: Strengthen social and moral cultural fabric alongside economic development by fostering authentic human connections and supporting community-building initiatives that provide purpose, identity, and belonging.
For International Development: Expand wellbeing research globally—currently covering 22 countries representing 64% of the population—and secure funding to collect critical data in underserved regions, particularly across Africa.
For Researchers and Funders: Continue longitudinal studies to determine causation, investigate cultural variations in wellbeing drivers, and invest in multidimensional research that goes beyond economic indicators.
For Individuals and Society: Prioritize real human connections over digital interactions, engage in community participation to combat isolation, and value involvement in organizations that provide meaning and purpose, whether secular or religious.
