Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41667545›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Exploring associations of three evaluative subjective wellbeing measures (Cantril's ladder, life satisfaction, happiness) with 15 childhood and demographic factors across 22 countries.

Tim Lomas, Hayami K Koga, R Noah Padgett, James O Pawelski, Eric S Kim, Christos A Makridis, Craig Gundersen, Matt Bradshaw, Noémie Le Pertel, Koichiro Shiba and 4 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Tim Lomas *Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. tlomas@hsph.harvard.edu.
Hayami K Koga *Human Flourishing Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
R Noah PadgettDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
James O PawelskiPositive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Eric S KimDepartment of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Christos A MakridisW. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Craig GundersenDepartment of Economics, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
Matt BradshawInstitute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
Noémie Le PertelHuman Flourishing Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Koichiro ShibaDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Chris FeltonHuman Flourishing Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
John F HelliwellDepartment of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Byron R JohnsonInstitute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
Tyler J VanderWeeleDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

Funding

Fetzer Institute 4354Templeton Religion Trust 1308TWCF 61665
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite a vast literature on subjective wellbeing (SWB), issues remain, including (a) debates around which concepts best represent it, (b) a disjointed understanding of relevant factors, and (c) limited appreciation of cross-national variation regarding (a) and (b). We address these points using data from the Global Flourishing Study on three constructs pertaining to evaluative SWB specifically (Cantril’s ladder, life satisfaction, and, perhaps more ambiguously, happiness), examining associations with 15 childhood and demographic factors across 202,898 participants from 22 countries. Key findings include, for (a) life satisfaction being the best performing construct (in correlations with overall flourishing), (b) all factors being significantly associated with all constructs (with the largest variation observed for employment status among demographic factors and self-reported health among childhood factors), and (c) patterns varying substantively across countries (suggesting the general trends are not universal but differ according to local socio-cultural dynamics). The findings advance the methodological, socio-demographic, and cross-national understanding of evaluative SWB.

Indexed as

HappinessPersonal SatisfactionChildCross-Cultural ComparisonDemographyFemaleHumansMalePsychological Well-BeingCross-culturalHappinessLife evaluationLife satisfactionSubjective wellbeing

Identifiers

PMID41667545
PMCPMC12957326

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.