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Only recently, however, have large international studies been conducted such as the World Values Survey and Gallup World Poll.
Conducting a review of recent findings, this author notes:
SWB can be used to inform policies related to zoning, health, education, and housing, among others. As governments expand their use of SWB measures to guide policy, the author calls for more rigorous research methods to be applied to the field and details key questions for researchers to consider.
This study is one in a series supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio to explore Positive Health, an emerging concept that seeks to demonstrate that in addition to health risks, people also have health assets, which can be strengthened to produce a healthier life. These health assets could include biological factors, such as high heart rate variability; subjective factors, such as optimism; and functional factors, such as a stable marriage.