Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study
Abstract Are certain parts of the world home to people with a higher sense of mastery? Does mastery vary across key demographic factors in similar or different ways across national contexts? These questions have been underexplored, or not explored at all. We analyzed nationally representative data f...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15304-1 |
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| author | Eric S. Kim R. Noah Padgett Matt Bradshaw Ying Chen William J. Chopik Sakurako Okuzono Renae Wilkinson Margie E. Lachman Byron R. Johnson Tyler J. VanderWeele |
| author_facet | Eric S. Kim R. Noah Padgett Matt Bradshaw Ying Chen William J. Chopik Sakurako Okuzono Renae Wilkinson Margie E. Lachman Byron R. Johnson Tyler J. VanderWeele |
| author_sort | Eric S. Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Are certain parts of the world home to people with a higher sense of mastery? Does mastery vary across key demographic factors in similar or different ways across national contexts? These questions have been underexplored, or not explored at all. We analyzed nationally representative data from 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study (N = 202,898) and evaluated these questions. People with the highest mastery were found in countries from Latin America (e.g., #1 Mexico, #3 Argentina), the Middle East/North Africa (e.g., #2 Egypt), and in high-income societies across different regions (e.g., #4 Israel, #5 United States, #6 Spain, #7 Sweden, #8 Hong Kong, and #9 Australia). The results indicate that a high a sense of mastery is achievable in diverse geographical and cultural contexts. Meta-analytic results that pooled country-specific estimates showed a progressive increase in mastery with age. Higher mastery was reported by people who were self-employed or employed by an employer, married, highly educated, regular attendees of religious services, and men. We also observed substantial heterogeneity in these factors across countries. Our research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of global patterns of mastery, and also suggests pathways for fostering mastery within and across diverse national contexts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8e464b48ce14db1ad4d00a2067c70b6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| spelling | doaj-art-e8e464b48ce14db1ad4d00a2067c70b62025-08-20T03:46:01ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-15304-1Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing studyEric S. Kim0R. Noah Padgett1Matt Bradshaw2Ying Chen3William J. Chopik4Sakurako Okuzono5Renae Wilkinson6Margie E. Lachman7Byron R. Johnson8Tyler J. VanderWeele9Department of Psychology, University of British ColumbiaHuman Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard UniversityInstitute for Studies of Religion, Baylor UniversityHuman Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard UniversityDepartment of Psychology, Michigan State UniversityDepartment of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthHuman Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard UniversityDepartment of Psychology, Brandeis UniversityHuman Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard UniversityHuman Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard UniversityAbstract Are certain parts of the world home to people with a higher sense of mastery? Does mastery vary across key demographic factors in similar or different ways across national contexts? These questions have been underexplored, or not explored at all. We analyzed nationally representative data from 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study (N = 202,898) and evaluated these questions. People with the highest mastery were found in countries from Latin America (e.g., #1 Mexico, #3 Argentina), the Middle East/North Africa (e.g., #2 Egypt), and in high-income societies across different regions (e.g., #4 Israel, #5 United States, #6 Spain, #7 Sweden, #8 Hong Kong, and #9 Australia). The results indicate that a high a sense of mastery is achievable in diverse geographical and cultural contexts. Meta-analytic results that pooled country-specific estimates showed a progressive increase in mastery with age. Higher mastery was reported by people who were self-employed or employed by an employer, married, highly educated, regular attendees of religious services, and men. We also observed substantial heterogeneity in these factors across countries. Our research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of global patterns of mastery, and also suggests pathways for fostering mastery within and across diverse national contexts.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15304-1Global flourishing studySense of masteryFlourishingPsychological well-beingCross-cultural |
| spellingShingle | Eric S. Kim R. Noah Padgett Matt Bradshaw Ying Chen William J. Chopik Sakurako Okuzono Renae Wilkinson Margie E. Lachman Byron R. Johnson Tyler J. VanderWeele Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study Scientific Reports Global flourishing study Sense of mastery Flourishing Psychological well-being Cross-cultural |
| title | Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study |
| title_full | Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study |
| title_fullStr | Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study |
| title_short | Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study |
| title_sort | mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study |
| topic | Global flourishing study Sense of mastery Flourishing Psychological well-being Cross-cultural |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15304-1 |
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