First Wave of Findings Released from the Highly Anticipated Global Flourishing Study

May 6, 2025

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (May 6, 2025) – The Global Flourishing Study, the most comprehensive investigation of human well-being ever conducted, found that young adults are struggling with mental health, while religious engagement is a key factor in overall wellbeing across various cultures.

The Global Flourishing Study is a collaborative effort between Baylor University, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, and the worldwide opinion polling company Gallup. Dr. Victor Counted, an associate professor of psychology and director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Regent University is also a core researcher in the Global Flourishing Study team and faculty affiliate of Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program.

The Global Flourishing Study is a five-year longitudinal panel survey of more than 200,000 adults across 22 countries, using nationally representative samples to examine the predictors and outcomes of human flourishing over time.

Dr. Counted shared the following insight in his article for The Conversation on the Global Flourishing Study .

“The Global Flourishing Study is helping us see that people all over the world want many of the same basic things: to be happy, healthy, connected and safe. But different countries reach those goals in different ways. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to flourishing. What it means to flourish can look different from place to place and from one person to another.”

In this first wave of findings, the study highlighted the following:

While flourishing tends to increase with age, younger individuals (18-24) across many nations reported lower levels of flourishing, indicating a need for mental health support and purpose-finding initiatives.

Middle-income nations like Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines showed higher levels of meaning, purpose, and social connectedness compared to wealthier countries like Japan and the UK.

Religious engagement was found to be a strong contributor to flourishing, even in secular societies.

Marked disparities in human flourishing dimensions (e.g., happiness and life satisfaction; physical and mental health; meaning and purpose; character and virtue; close social relationships; financial and material stability) were discovered based on demographics and cross-national nuances.

The Global Flourishing Study will continue to collect annual data through 2027 with researchers resurveying participants annually. Additional findings are slated for release over the next five years.

About Regent University

Founded in 1977, Regent University is America’s premier Christian university, with more than 13,000 students studying on its 70-acre campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and online around the world. The university offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in more than 150 areas of study, including business, communication and the arts, counseling, cybersecurity, divinity, education, government, law, leadership, nursing, healthcare, and psychology. Regent University has been ranked the #1 Best Accredited Online College in the United States (Study.com, 2020), the #1 Safest College Campus in Virginia (YourLocalSecurity, 2021), and the #1 Best Online Bachelor’s Program in Virginia for 13 years in a row (U.S. News & World Report, 2025).

To support the Royals Rise capital campaign for campus expansion, visit www.regent.edu/royalsrise.

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