A Cross-Sectional Study Comparing Flourishing and Quality of Life as Indicators of Psychological Well-Being in Adults

Flourishing and quality of life are related constructs often used to measure overall well-being, but it is unclear whether they capture the same underlying facets of well-being or provide complementary information. This study evaluated the relationship between a multidimensional flourishing measure (i.e., the Harvard Human Flourishing Program Measure; FM) and a commonly used quality of life instrument (i.e., the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-Short Form, Q-LES-SF). Analysis was performed on a sample of 302 adult participants recruited using the online survey platform Prolific. Participants completed the FM and Q-LES-SF, as well as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; depression), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the PROMIS Smoking/Nicotine Dependence scale. Pearson correlations were used to assess associations between variables, Fisher’s z-tests compared correlation magnitudes, and linear regressions tested incremental validity. FM and Q-LES-SF scores were strongly positively correlated (r = 0.81, p < .001). Both FM and Q-LES-SF showed significant negative correlations with PHQ-9 (rs = −0.69, −0.74), GAD-7 (rs = −0.65, −0.66), and AUDIT (rs = −0.17, −0.18, respectively) scores (ps < .001), with no significant differences between correlation magnitudes. Adding FM as a predictor alongside QL significantly improved the prediction of PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores but not AUDIT or cigarette dependence scores. These findings are a first step in understanding the convergent and incremental validity of FM and QL and if the separate research programs for each measure may be mutually informative.