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The Six Dimensions of Human Flourishing: The Harvard Framework Applied to This Stage of Life
The Six Dimensions of Human Flourishing: The Harvard Framework Applied to This Stage of Life
Tyler VanderWeele and the Harvard Human Flourishing Program have proposed six dimensions that encompass—across nearly all cultures—what it means for a life to go well. We review them one by one, with those in their 60s, 70s, or 80s in mind.
Gabriel Serrano
There is a question older than philosophy and more current than any self-help book: what does it mean for a life to go well? Aristotle answered it with a single word, eudaimonia. Today, at Harvard University, a group led by epidemiologist and philosopher Tyler VanderWeele has been seeking to answer it with data since 2016. They have surveyed more than two hundred thousand people across twenty-two countries. And what they have found has a name: human flourishing. Six dimensions, common to almost all cultures, translate what it means to live a life well.
For someone who is 60, 70, or 80 years old, this map is not an academic exercise. It is a practical tool to look closely at where each part of your life stands, what is going well, what is not, and what can be nurtured starting tomorrow.
What exactly is "flourishing," according to Harvard
The Human Flourishing Program defines flourishing as “a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives”. Three important features of this definition:
Flourishing is an ideal. No one flourishes completely — there is always room for improvement. It is not binary: we all flourish to some degree.
Flourishing is multidimensional. A person can have wonderful relationships and mediocre health. Another, the opposite. Every dimension matters.
Flourishing includes context. Your community, your environment, are not separate from your flourishing: they are part of it.
The six dimensions, one by one
1. Happiness and life satisfaction
The most studied and visible dimension. It is the general feeling that you like the life you have. It matters, but — and self-help books often forget this — it does not exhaust what it means to live well. In maturity, happiness changes character: it ceases to be excitement and becomes serenity. A slow Sunday with a good book weighs more than many plans.
2. Physical and mental health
Taking care of oneself seriously — sleeping, moving, eating well, cultivating mindfulness and mental calm — is one of the foundations of flourishing. In this stage, health is not conquered; it is maintained. The science is clear: regular moderate exercise and active social ties have effects comparable to those of many medications in older adults.
3. Meaning and purpose
According to data from the Global Flourishing Study, this is one of the dimensions that increases the most with age in many countries. Having an answer — even a provisional one — to the question of what you live for is one of the strongest predictors of global well-being in older adults. Philosophy and spirituality are the two fields where this muscle is most easily sustained.
4. Character and virtue
Here, Harvard says something uncommon in contemporary psychology: that good character is not just a means to happiness, but an intrinsic part of flourishing. A very happy but morally corrupt person is not flourishing. A person who has done harm and repents and repairs — even if they are sad — flourishes more than the former. Maturity is, paradoxically, the age when this dimension is at its peak: decades of virtuous habits begin to bear fruit.
5. Close social relationships
Family, friends, community. Deep relationships are one of the dimensions that most protect mental and physical health in older adults. It is also one of the dimensions most threatened at this stage — by retirement, loss, mobility. That is why the fight against unwanted loneliness is a public health priority.
6. Financial and material stability
This is the sixth dimension and the only one the Harvard team classifies as a means: it is not an end in itself, but it sustains the others. It is not necessary to have a lot. It is necessary to have enough not to worry every night about making ends meet.
Flourishing is not a state of mind. It is a way of being alive in each of these six dimensions.
Four pathways to sustain flourishing
Another major contribution of the Harvard program: analyzing data from many countries, they have identified four community pathways that systematically improve the different dimensions of flourishing:
Family. Family care and conversation are one of the most stable forces of human well-being.
Education. Lifelong learning — not just in youth — sustains at least four of the six dimensions (cognitive health, meaning, relationships, character).
Work (in a broad sense). An occupation that matters: volunteering, mentoring, a resumed craft. The idea that work "ends" at 65 is a modern social construct, not a truth of human nature.
Spiritual or religious community. The program's research shows that participation in a spiritual community improves health, meaning, character, and relationships. Leaving it out of the analysis, the authors say, is to miss one of the most powerful pathways.
Why this matters especially in maturity
The usual narrative about aging focuses almost solely on the first dimension (happiness) and the second (health). And when health declines, it is assumed — too quickly — that one can no longer flourish. Data from the Global Flourishing Study show the opposite: in many countries, older adults score higher in meaning, character, and relationships than younger people. The existential dimensions of flourishing mature late.
That is why Thenomba's Senior journey is built on four of the six dimensions mapped by Harvard: meaning (philosophy, transcendence, history), character (the great human questions), relationships (the NOMBA community, allies), and continuous learning as a base. Not to replace health or finances, which are looked after by doctors and pensions. But to not leave the other four neglected, where a good part of flourishing in maturity is played out.
A question for today
If you had to give a score from 0 to 10 to each of the six dimensions of your life right now — happiness, health, meaning, character, relationships, stability — which one gets the highest score? Which one the lowest? Which one is asking for attention this year?
In the next article of the Notebook, we have translated the twelve questions with which the Harvard team measures flourishing into a simple questionnaire you can ask yourself. No score, no diagnosis. Just to look.
Source: VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). Human Flourishing: An Introductory Framework. Harvard Human Flourishing Program at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. hfh.fas.harvard.edu. VanderWeele, T. J. (2017). On the promotion of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(31), 8148–8156.
Cover image generated with artificial intelligence.
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