Global research team assembled for World Happiness Report 2025
An international team of interdisciplinary researchers will contribute to World Happiness Report 2025, focused on the theme of ‘caring and sharing.’
Authors from a diverse mix of locations and disciplines will collaborate on the report, due to be released on 20 March 2025 to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.
Powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, the World Happiness Report is the world’s foremost publication on global happiness. Released annually since 2012, the report provides valuable, interdisciplinary insights into the wellbeing and happiness of people across the globe.
In addition to the ranking of the world’s happiest countries, the report includes curated chapters from experts at the forefront of wellbeing science to showcase some of the emergent ideas and trends on the annual theme.
In May, the editors issued the first-ever call for research proposals for the 2025 report, receiving 39 expressions of interest from 18 different countries.
Lara B. Aknin, Professor of Social Psychology at Simon Fraser University and an editor of the World Happiness Report, said:
"We’ve assembled an impressive team of talented researchers to explore the theme of ‘caring and sharing’ in World Happiness Report 2025.
“Established work shows that benevolence, empathy, and trust are all significant drivers of both individual and national happiness. Working alongside this diverse group of researchers, we will explore these complex and consequential themes in more depth than ever before.”
Psychologists Felix Cheung, Yeeun Archer Lee, and Sara Konrath will join economist Haifang Huang and report editors John Helliwell, Lara Aknin and Shun Wang on the Chapter 2 team for 2025, which will once again feature a ranking of countries by their average levels of life satisfaction.
This will be followed by six chapters looking at ‘caring and sharing’ from different angles.
Caring, sharing, and world happiness
- John F. Helliwell
Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia - Lara B. Aknin
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University - Haifang Huang
Department of Economics, University of Alberta - Shun Wang
International Business School Suzhou, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University - Felix Cheung
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto - Yeeun Archer Lee
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto - Sara Konrath
Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
Sharing meals, social connections, and happiness around the world
- Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford - Andrew Dugan
Gallup - Alberto Prati
University College London - Micah Kaats
Harvard Kennedy School
Dr Alberto Prati, co-author, said:
“I am very excited to work on this chapter with a fantastic team. We will attempt to learn more about social connections and wellbeing from the lens of one of the most universal social activities – sharing a meal – made possible by unprecedented survey data from around the world.”
Pro-social behaviour and deaths of despair around the world
- Kelsey J. O’Connor
STATEC Research - Chiara Peroni
STATEC Research - Francesco Sarracino
STATEC Research - Giulia Slater
STATEC Research - Fengyu Wu
STATEC Research
Dr Francesco Sarracino, co-author, said:
“We are honoured to collaborate on the next World Happiness Report, and looking forward to shedding some light on deaths of despair around the world and pro-social behaviour, one of the possible antidotes, which contributes to individual happiness and community support.”
Understanding and fostering social wellbeing in young adults
- Rui Pei
Department of Psychology, Stanford University - Jamil Zaki
Department of Psychology, Stanford University
Dr Rui Pei, joint-first author, said:
“We are thrilled to contribute our research on social wellbeing among young adults. Caring communities play a vital role in young people’s wellbeing, but they often underperceive how much others want to connect with them. We suggest that correcting these misperceptions can create a path for greater connection and happiness.”
Analysing the impact of charitable giving in WELLBYs
- Michael Plant
Happier Lives Institute - Ryan Dwyer
Happier Lives Institute - Joel McGuire
Happier Lives Institute - Samuel Dupret
Happier Lives Institute - Ben Stewart
Happier Lives Institute
Dr Michael Plant, lead author, said:
“We’re delighted to be writing a chapter for World Happiness Report 2025. Our chapter focuses on the question we hope readers are asking, ‘What can I do for world happiness?’ and reviews what’s known so far about which charities globally are the most effective at turning your money into happiness for others.”
Caring and sharing in Latin America: the (central) role of the family
- Mariano Rojas
Tecnológico Nacional de México - Lina Martínez
Universidad ICESI, Observatory of Public Policies (POLIS), Cali - Colombia - Margarita Tarragona
ITAM Center for Well-being Studies, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México - Gerardo Leyva Parra
Independent Economist - Roberto Castellanos
Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, National Autonomous University of Mexico
Prof Mariano Rojas, lead author, said:
“Every year, the World Happiness Report presents research that is useful to develop a people-centred and happiness-based narrative of social progress. We are glad to contribute with a chapter from Latin America on the importance of family relationships, recognizing the relevance of the close relational context for people’s happiness.”
The developing contours of social values around the world: convergence and divergence of attitudes towards others on a global scale
- Claudia Senik
Sorbonne University, Paris School of Economics, and CEPREMAP - Yann Algan
HEC Paris - Elizabeth Beasley
CEPREMAP - Mathieu Perona
CEPREMAP
Prof Claudia Senik, lead author, said:
“The World Happiness Report has become one of the most influential institutions for the dissemination of knowledge on happiness worldwide. We are excited to contribute to the next issue by painting a picture of the long run evolution of well-being around the world, and how convergence or divergence between countries and within countries is related to economic growth, social connections, and institutional trust.”
About the World Happiness Report
The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board. The report is produced under the editorial control of the WHR Editorial Board.
Powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, the World Happiness Report is the world’s foremost publication on global happiness: an annual publication which provides valuable, interdisciplinary insights into the wellbeing and happiness of people across the globe.
In addition to the rankings of the world’s ‘happiest’ countries, the report includes curated submissions from experts at the forefront of wellbeing science.
For more information visit worldhappiness.report.