The development of the Global Flourishing Study questionnaire: charting the evolution of a new 109-item inventory of human flourishing.

Abstract

Given the well-founded critiques of academia as Western-centric, there are increasing efforts to conduct research that is more cross-cultural and global. These dynamics apply to all aspects of life, including human flourishing, as exemplified by the new Global Flourishing Study (GFS), a longitudinal panel study investigating the predictors and components of flourishing across over 200,000 participants from 22 geographically and culturally diverse countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong [S.A.R of China, with mainland China also included from 2024 onwards], Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, UK, and USA). The research is not only comprehensive in its global reach but also its conceptual coverage of flourishing, involving 109 distinct questions (comprising a one-off intake survey of 43 items and an annual survey of 71 items, with five items shared by both). This paper elucidates the questionnaire development process, giving a transparent and open accounting of its multi-phase construction. By describing this process in detail, this article not only articulates the nature of the GFS but also serves as a useful resource in the survey development literature more broadly (e.g., for scholars undertaking similar endeavors).