Flourishing in the Philippines: Country-specific insights from the Global Flourishing Study

Authors

  • Jet Uy Buenconsejo Department of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3777-8601
  • Eunice Contreras Department of Education Policy and Leadership, The Education University of Hong Kong; School of Education and Human Development, University of Asia and the Pacific https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2770-0248
  • Jovel O. Nabia Philippine Statistics Authority https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5201-4369
  • Maria Celine Anastasia Socrates Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Asia and the Pacific https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1998-7725
  • Brendan Case Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University
  • Tim Lomas Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University
  • Ying Chen Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University
  • Richard G. Cowden Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University
  • R. Noah Padgett Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Byron R. Johnson Institute for Studies of Religion, Institute for Global Human Flourishing, Baylor University; Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University
  • Tyler J. VanderWeele Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i3.6247

Abstract

Existing research on well-being has predominantly focused on relatively individualistic Western societies, with limited attention to developing and more collectivistic countries like the Philippines. This study contributes to addressing this gap by examining multidimensional well-being in a nationally representative sample of Filipinos (n = 5,292) from the first wave of the Global Flourishing Study. Specifically, differences in (1) life satisfaction and happiness, (2) physical and mental health, (3) meaning and purpose, (4) character and virtue, (5) social connectedness, and (6) financial and material stability were analyzed based on participants' sociodemographic characteristics. The results provided evidence of variation in flourishing indicators across gender, age, marital status, employment status, educational attainment, and religious service attendance, though most differences were modest in size. Some sociodemographic characteristics showed small associations with select indicators such as character-related outcomes by gender, physical and psychological well-being across age groups, and material stability across education levels. Religious attendance was more consistently associated with higher flourishing across several dimensions. These findings provide valuable insights into the multidimensional nature of flourishing and potential sociodemographic disparities in flourishing within a developing, collectivistic Southeast Asian context.

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Published

2026-02-28

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 3 (2025): Special "Living" Issue: A Country-Specific All-Outcome Approach to the Global Flourishing Study

Section

Invited Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Jet Uy Buenconsejo, Eunice Contreras, Jovel O. Nabia, Maria Celine Anastasia Socrates, Brendan Case, Tim Lomas, Ying Chen, Richard G. Cowden, R. Noah Padgett, Byron R. Johnson, Tyler J. VanderWeele

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