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Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction is a research topic within Social Psychology. Science Explorer counts 35k research works in it since 1950. 27.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the role of positive emotions, well-being, and mental health, encompassing topics such as positive psychology, happiness, subjective well-being, resilience, gratitude, and eudaimonia. It explores the impact of positive emotions on individual flourishing and the broader implications for mental health and societal well-being.

  • Positive Psychology
  • Well-Being
  • Positive Emotions
  • Happiness
  • Subjective Well-Being
  • Resilience
  • Gratitude
  • Mental Health
  • Eudaimonia
  • Life Satisfaction
Research works
35k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
9.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
27.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+71%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.8k and 970 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.8k works
  2. 2 China 970 works
  3. 3 India 683 works
  4. 4 Türkiye 543 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 518 works
  6. 6 Italy 460 works
  7. 7 Germany 338 works
  8. 8 Indonesia 325 works
  9. 9 Canada 304 works
  10. 10 Spain 267 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 28.6%China: 15.7%India: 11.1%Türkiye: 8.8%6 others listed: 35.8%29%largest
United States1,763 · 28.6%China970 · 15.7%India683 · 11.1%Türkiye543 · 8.8%6 others listed2,212 · 35.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Sapienza University of Rome publishes the most Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction research, followed by Beijing Normal University and The University of Melbourne.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Sapienza University of Rome Italy 237 works
  2. 2 Beijing Normal University China 42 works
  3. 3 The University of Melbourne Australia 33 works
  4. 4 University of Toronto Canada 30 works
  5. 5 University College London United Kingdom 29 works
  6. 6 Christ University India 29 works
  7. 7 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 25 works
  8. 8 Harvard University United States 25 works
  9. 9 Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia 24 works
  10. 10 Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands 24 works

Who are the leading researchers in Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction include Daniel Kahneman, Peter M. Bentler and Richard M. Ryan.

  1. 1 Daniel Kahneman 21k citations
  2. 2 Peter M. Bentler 16k citations
  3. 3 Richard M. Ryan 10k citations
  4. 4 Ronald C. Kessler 9.8k citations
  5. 5 Edward L. Deci 7.3k citations
  6. 6 Martin E. P. Seligman 7.1k citations
  7. 7 Arnold B. Bakker 6k citations
  8. 8 Wilmar B. Schaufeli 5.3k citations
  9. 9 Barbara L. Fredrickson 4.7k citations
  10. 10 Herbert W. Marsh 4.6k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction research done?

The largest centres of Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction research in 2022–2025 are Rome (Italy), Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom) and Istanbul (Türkiye).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Rome Italy 269 works
  2. 2 Beijing China 191 works
  3. 3 London United Kingdom 135 works
  4. 4 Istanbul Türkiye 109 works
  5. 5 Hong Kong China 83 works
  6. 6 Shanghai China 78 works
  7. 7 Seoul South Korea 75 works
  8. 8 Melbourne Australia 73 works
  9. 9 Tokyo Japan 71 works
  10. 10 Ankara Türkiye 70 works
See Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction on the map

Where is the best place to study Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction?

Among universities, judged by research, Education University of Hong Kong, Sapienza University of Rome and Keimyung University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 35.71%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Education University of Hong Kong: 18, 43.2%Sapienza University of Rome: 237, 4.3%Keimyung University: 17, 42.7%Singapore Management University: 8, 46.5%Baylor University: 18, 33.6%Erasmus University Rotterdam: 24, 36.9%Claremont Graduate University: 10, 40.3%Tilburg University: 17, 33.8%Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 22, 50.2%Corvinus University of Budapest: 8, 25.6%Singapore Management…Education University…Keimyung UniversitySapienza University …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 74.443.2%12.6×18 +236.0%
2Sapienza University of Rome Italy 65.34.3%21.5×237 +246.9%
3Keimyung University South Korea 60.542.7%18.1×17
4Singapore Management University Singapore 59.546.5%7.5×8 +93.2%
5Baylor University United States 58.933.6%10.2×18 +99.3%
6Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands 57.036.9%8.5×24 +19.3%
7Claremont Graduate University United States 56.840.3%32.8×10 +68.0%
8Tilburg University Netherlands 55.833.8%10.3×17 +1.6%
9Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 54.350.2%2.5×22 +59.4%
10Corvinus University of Budapest Hungary 54.225.6%8.9×8 +352.1%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 71% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.