A group from a suburban church once returned from a service trip overseas with an unexpected story. They had spent a week building simple homes in a small village—places with tin roofs, dirt floors, and none of the conveniences most of us consider basic. What surprised them most was the people they met.
These families, who lived with so much less, somehow seemed to have so much more. They laughed easily, shared freely, and treated guests like long-lost relatives. Many had strong faith, tight-knit families, and friendships that threaded through the whole community. One volunteer admitted that she wasn’t sure she knew anyone back home who seemed as joyfully grounded as the grandmother who offered her the last mango from the tree behind her house.
A massive new global study—the Global Flourishing Study—suggests something deeper is going on. Researchers followed more than 200,000 adults in 22 countries and found a surprising pattern: nations with the highest incomes often had lower levels of overall human flourishing.
People in places countries with far lower GDP reported higher levels of meaning, stronger relationships, richer community life, and more positive emotions than people in some of the world’s wealthiest nations. One factor stood out: Dense webs of loving relationships—family, friends, neighbors, and often, shared religious life. In fact, weekly participation in a worshiping community was strongly associated with higher flourishing across most of the globe.