This Week In Happiness — Gross National Happiness USA

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We read the latest peer-reviewed happiness and wellbeing research so you don't have to.

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A short, clear digest of what's new in the science of wellbeing — free, no jargon.

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What's new in wellbeing research

A taste of what lands in your inbox each week.

Wellbeing depends on better measures

This Week In Wellbeing Measurement · 2026-09-10 · 11 papers reviewed

This week’s papers circle a practical problem: wellbeing is hard to improve if we measure different things, or measure them in ways that create burden for users. From operating rooms to flood zones, the methods themselves shape what becomes visible.

The metric is not neutral: flood exposure can look tiny or widespread depending on how incidence is measured.
Several papers focus on concrete instruments and frameworks, from disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaires to social-equity evaluation approaches.
Lower-burden monitoring matters when alerts, wearables, or clinical devices can themselves add fatigue or discomfort.

Wellbeing lives in policy details

What's Well & Good in Policy · 2026-09-07 · 115 papers reviewed

This week’s papers treat wellbeing less as a personal trait than as something built—or strained—by rules, benefits, workplaces, and health communication. The strongest work shows policy and institutional practices reaching into retirement, maternity, long-term care, and civil rights.

Benefit design is wellbeing policy: China’s pension integration raised reported wellbeing among private-sector retirees during transition.
Guidance and organizational climate can be workplace wellbeing issues: pre-hospital staff identified pregnancy, maternity, and return-to-work guidance gaps as stressors, while a healthcare review examines psychosocial safety climate in relation to workplace violence and coping.
Nursing-home pandemic restrictions were strongly shaped by regulations and ethical considerations; future planning should examine visitation and activity limits alongside staff and resident/family attitudes.

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