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Global Wellbeing Initiative Dataset

Gallup and the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation joined forces in 2019 for a groundbreaking partnership known as the Global Wellbeing Initiative (GWI) to develop a more nuanced and globally inclusive measurement and understanding of wellbeing.

The GWI has worked to develop new items for the World Poll that will lay the foundation for future research projects and transform our perception of wellbeing.

Our Research

Purpose of This Wellbeing Module

This module aims to understand concepts of wellbeing around the world and incorporate perspectives from Eastern cultures into existing measures like life evaluation and daily emotions. The goal is to create a global metric of wellbeing that includes perspectives from both Eastern and Western cultures.

Special Issues to Consider in This Module

The module asks about feelings of calmness, peace, balance, and the importance of community and helping others. There are also questions about wellbeing in the workplace that aim to measure the satisfaction and personal enjoyment that people get from their professional life.

Image of woman outside looking at the sky.
What We Measured

List of the 2020 Survey Items

  • Did you experience the following feelings during A LOT OF THE DAY yesterday? How about calmness?
  • Would you rather live an exciting life or a calm life? An exciting life / A calm life / Both / Neither
  • Which of the following is closest to your MAIN purpose in life?
    • Being good at what you do in your daily life
    • Caring for family and close friends
    • Helping other people who need help
    • (None of these)
    • (I do not know my purpose in life)
  • Do you enjoy the work you do in your job every day, or not? Yes / No
  • Do you, personally, have many choices in regard to the type of work you can do in your life? Yes / No
  • In general, do you feel at peace with your life, or not? Yes / No
  • In general, do you feel the various aspects of your life are in balance, or not? Yes / No
  • Do you think people should focus more on taking care of themselves or on taking care of others?
    • Taking care of themselves
    • Taking care of others
    • (Both)
    • (Neither)
  • Do you think the work you do in your job significantly improves the lives of other people outside of your own household, or not? Yes / No

The survey involved more than 122,000 people in 116 countries in 2020 and was run as part of the Gallup World Poll. Typically, 1,000 individuals were surveyed in each country. In China, India and Russia, the sample sizes were 2,000 or greater. In rare instances, the sample size fell between 500 and 1,000.

The dataset includes the following variables:

  • Responses to the Global Wellbeing Initiative questionnaire
  • Gender and age
  • Educational level, employment status and per capita income quintiles
  • Country income level (World Bank)
  • Urban/Rural location
Data Usage

Advancing the Science and Discourse of Wellbeing

If you intend to use these data for external purposes, like the publication of a paper, please make sure to cite the dataset according to the following format: Gallup World Poll, Global Wellbeing Initiative dataset, 2020.

Part of the mission of the Global Wellbeing Initiative is to advance research and thought leadership on wellbeing. If you are planning to publish a paper using these data, let us know so that we can give it more visibility. You can contact us by sending an email to contact@globalwellbeinginitiative.org.

Download the Data and Learn More About Our Research on Wellbeing

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