The McDonald Faith and Global Engagement Distinguished Lecture
UPDATING THE GOOD LIFE:
THE GLOBAL FLOURISHING STUDY
Prof. Tyler J. VanderWeele
Harvard University
Date: 10 NOV 2025 (Mon)
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Multi-purpose Area, 2/F, Main Library, HKU
Abstract
Many empirical studies throughout the social and biomedical sciences and many policy discussions focus only on very narrow outcomes such as income, or a single specific disease state, or measures of feeling happy. Human well-being or flourishing, however, consists in a much broader range of states and outcomes. Flourishing might be understood as the relative attainment a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good including, but not limited to, happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. The empirical literature from experimental, longitudinal, and quasi-experimental studies is reviewed in attempt to identify major determinants of, and resources for, human flourishing. A new major research and data collection undertaking – the Global Flourishing Study – will be described consisting of longitudinal data on over 200,000 individuals from 22 countries, representing about half of the world’s populations, with nationally representative samples and annual data collection. Initial insights from the study will be presented and the data will hopefully over time dramatically advance our understanding of, and efforts to promote, human flourishing.
About the Speaker
Tyler J. VanderWeele, Ph.D., is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics. His methodological research is focused on theory and methods for distinguishing between association and causation in the biomedical and social sciences and, more recently, on psychosocial measurement theory. His empirical research spans psychiatric and social epidemiology; the science of happiness and flourishing; and the study of religion and health. He is the recipient of the 2017 Presidents’ Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS). Dr. VanderWeele has published over 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals; is author of the books Explanation in Causal Inference (2015), Modern Epidemiology (2021), Measuring Well-Being (2021), Handbook of Religion and Health (2024), and A Theology of Health (2024); and writes a monthly blog posting on topics related to human flourishing for Psychology Today
