Great Life Index: A measure of wellbeing

Wellbeing is the quality of life experienced by individuals. Like body temperature, it is maintained at a set level by a built-in mechanism called homeostasis. In most western countries homeostasis for wellbeing is between 75-80%. Factors affecting wellbeing include physical, economical, emotional, psychological and environmental. When these factors are at its optimal in a community, people experience a sense of security, trust, connectedness, and there will be plenty of employment opportunities.

Maintaining a high level of community wellbeing is critical to buffer the affects of misfortunes such as economic downturns and earthquakes. When the magnitude of misfortunes is too large to bear, a breakdown occurs in the community, as observed in Egypt and more recently in Libya. In these countries, the rulers were directly implicated for the breakdown. In both cases, the rulers and their allies were removed by their people.

In democratic countries, local bodies and governments are appointed to maintain the wellbeing of its citizens. They achieve this by formulating legislations and developing infrastructure to support and promote the factors of wellbeing. Thus, wellbeing is a measure of how the political system is faring in a country. Wellbeing measurement can be used by citizens to make an informed decision on Election Day to oust or instate individuals and parties from the government through a democratic process.

Wellbeing is also related to success at an individual and collective level. Businesses that maintain a high level of wellbeing amongst its employees will experience success in good times and, more importantly, survive hard times. Managers therefore need to ensure the above factors are upheld within their organisations. As it is related to success, wellbeing measurements can also provide inputs for making strategic decisions and justification for investing into infrastructure.

While wellbeing is about individuals, politicians, bureaucrats and corporate heads have a major role in creating an environment in which it is maximised. When everyone does their little part, the community becomes vibrant and attractive to investors, immigrants and visitors. For these reasons, there is a move in many western countries for independent organisations to monitor wellbeing. In New Zealand, the Great Survey Site, in partnership with the Department of Marketing, University of Otago, has commenced to produce wellbeing measurements using an itemised rating scale. The mean rating produced by the scale will be referred to as the Great Life Index. This index is based on the Great Survey Site panel consisting of over 200,000 New Zealanders. Preliminary tests of the scale were carried out during the 2011 Rugby World Cup that included four separate surveys, one in the week following the opening ceremony, two during the round robin games and the last one in the week following the final game.

Great Life Index for all five cities was 5.0, out of a maximum of 7.0 points. After the earthquakes in Christchurch, one would have expected wellbeing for this city to be lower than the others. This however was not the case as there was no statistical difference between Christchurch and the other cities. There may have been a departure from wellbeing homeostasis at the time of the earthquakes. However, at the time of this measurement, it appears that homeostasis was restored. This observation highlights the resilience of the people of Christchurch. The high wellbeing index observed for this city is an indication that it will be restored to its original glory.

In the week that followed the Rugby World Cup, radio talk shows, televisions programmes and newspapers were overflowing with the All Black’s 8-7 victory over France. The jubilation in the country was evidently seen in the victory parades at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. One would have thought the happy mood in the country to be reflected with a spike in the wellbeing measurement. But wellbeing in the week following the final was no different to those of the previous weeks. This observation confirms wellbeing’s homeostatic nature of not being affected by external changes. The Rugby World Cup was good for New Zealand, but its affect on wellbeing appears to be limited. This could be because a single event like the Rugby World Cup may not be sufficient to affect wellbeing. It could have an indirect affect in conjunction with a smart political and economic system. In that sense, such events are more a means-to-an-end as far as wellbeing is concerned.

Perhaps it is meeting the emotional and physical needs of people at a satisfactory level that influences wellbeing. In which case, a simple evaluative measure of wellbeing like the Great Life Index could force political parties and corporations to be competitive, which in turn would result in a smarter political and economic system that enhances wellbeing.