iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🧭 Eudaimonia is an idea with ancient roots, but plays an important part in modern #wellbeing science. Today, eudaimonic wellbeing can be measured with questions such as whether we feel the things we do in life are worthwhile.

Image of a bearded man helping a young girl water plants, overlaid with a definition of the word “eudaimonia”, which reads: “A dimension of wellbeing concerned with meaning and purpose, including whether the things we do feel worthwhile and contribute to something beyond ourselves.”

The graphic is part of the A to Z of Wellbeing series by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

NEW: A newly-published study challenges previous evidence that happiness spreads within teams of people.👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.je...

A scatter plot presented under the title “Happiness Spread: A Field Experiment”. Subtitle reads: “People who lived with happier peers were no happier themselves eight weeks later, suggesting happiness did not meaningfully spread between roommates.”

Figure shows binned scatterplots of happiness of recruits at endline against happiness of other recruits in the same room, where each dot is a bin mean computed from equally many observations, rather than an individual data point.

A trend line estimated on all underlying individual-level data shows a flat-to-negative trend.

The source of the plot is the paper ‘Does happiness spread within organizations? Evidence from a field experiment in Norway’, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

📝 Our friends at the LSE Centre for Economic Performance have once again put together an excellent series of #wellbeing research seminars for the term ahead, starting this Thursday 1 October. Full details on dates, times and topics👇 cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/events/...

Image of a notepad, open on an individual's lap.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

🍽️ Research using data from more than 150,000 people across 140+ countries finds that those who share more meals tend to report higher #wellbeing, more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions.👇 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Bar chart presented under the title “Meal Sharing and Wellbeing in the USA”. Subtitle reads: “How often we share meals with others can tell us as much about our wellbeing as income or employment status.”

Bars present the Cantril Ladder score for Americans who dine with others compared to that of Americans who dine alone. Life evaluations are shown to be significantly higher overall, and when split by both sex and age group.

The source of the plot is the paper ‘Sharing meals is associated with greater wellbeing’, published in Scientific Reports, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

⚙️ Research helps us understand not only how people are doing, but what might explain the differences in their #wellbeing.

Image of two women smiling, overlaid with a definition of the word “drivers”, which reads: “The circumstances and characteristics that help explain differences in wellbeing, including (but not necessarily limited to) our health, relationships, work, wealth and wider social and physical environment.”

The graphic is part of the A to Z of Wellbeing series by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

🔗 Our #wellbeing is shaped not only by how we live, but by the people we share our lives with.

Image of two men smiling as part of a group conversation, overlaid with a definition of the word “connection”, which reads: “Social connection comes from our relationships and interactions with family, friends, colleagues and communities. These connections provide companionship, support and a sense of shared experience.”

The graphic is part of the A to Z of Wellbeing series by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🕓 When is a four-day week not really a four-day week? New research suggests there’s not only an important difference between working fewer hours and simply squeezing the same hours into fewer days, but an alarming gender gap.👇 doi.org/10.5287/ora-...

Two coefficient heatmaps presented under the title “Working Time: Reduce or Compress?”. Subtitle reads: “Reducing working hours is associated with better wellbeing. Compressing the same hours into fewer days shows no benefit, and is associated with declines in women’s wellbeing.”

The left plot presents coefficients for both men and women working a ‘true’ four-day week, across 13 domains of wellbeing. The right plot presents coefficients across the same domains for those working compressed hours.

Cells are coloured when p is less than 0.1. Shades of purple represent a positive change, while shades of red are negative. Reduced working hours see positive associations for both men and women, but there is a large gender split in the coefficients among women working compressed hours.

The source of the plot is the working paper ‘Reduce or Compress? Panel Evidence on Working Time Arrangements and Worker Wellbeing’, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

🅱️ is for … belonging. Belonging is more than simply being around other people. It is about feeling accepted, included and valued, and knowing that we have a meaningful place among others.

Image of a group of football players celebrating together, overlaid with a definition of the word “belonging”, which reads: “Feeling accepted, included and valued by others, with a sense that we matter and have a meaningful place within a group or community.”

The graphic includes is part of the A to Z of Wellbeing series by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

🦠 Does happiness spread from person to person? Research with 1,500+ Norwegian military recruits found no evidence that happiness shifted towards those they lived with. This challenges the idea that #wellbeing naturally spreads through groups.👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.je...

Image of Alberto Prati of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, alongside the quote: “It is often assumed that happiness is contagious, but our large field experiment suggests that it may not be. Even when people live alongside happier peers, we find no evidence that their own happiness increases.”

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

🍽️ We spend a lot of time thinking about what we eat, but perhaps we should pay more attention to who we eat it with...👇 www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

bbc.co.uk

There's something unique about eating together that's good for us

Commensality – the act of sharing meals – can reduce your risk of depression and dementia.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🅰️ is for … affect. In the first of a new series, we’re exploring the words, concepts and ideas behind the science of #wellbeing. First up, we take a closer look at hedonic measures (from the Greek word ‘hedone’, meaning pleasure), also known by the term ‘affect’.👇

Image of four people lying on a picnic blanket, laughing, overlaid with a definition of the word “affect”, which reads: “Psychologists use the word ‘affect’ to describe feelings of different sorts. Positive affect includes feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and laughter. Negative affect includes feelings of sadness, anger and stress.”

The graphic includes is part of the A to Z of Wellbeing series by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

⬆️ Of the 18 countries where average life evaluations have risen by at least one point on the 0–10 scale since 2012, half are in Central and Eastern Europe.

Map of the world presented under the title “Global Changes in Life Evaluation, 2012-2025”. Subtitle reads: “Of the 18 countries where average life evaluations have risen by at least one point on the 0–10 scale since 2012, half are in Central and Eastern Europe.”

Countries are coloured in shades of pink (negative) and green (positive) to represent changes in life evaluations over time, with darker shades representing larger changes.

Drops are highlighted for Afghanistan (-2.594), Zimbabwe (-1.481), and Venezuela (-1.283), while increases are highlighted for Togo (+1.341) and China (+1.096).

A separate zoomed view of southeastern Europe highlights large increases for Serbia (+1.878), Bulgaria (+1.722), Kosovo (+1.688), Romania (+1.596) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (+1.568).

The source of the data is the Gallup World Poll, published in the chapter ‘International evidence on happiness and social media’, of World Happiness Report 2026, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Workplace #wellbeing initiatives can improve people’s experiences of work. But some risk helping people cope without addressing the working conditions causing distress.👇 doi.org/10.1177/1350...

Image of William Fleming of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, alongside the quote: “Even as sincere attempts to make work better, many workplace wellbeing approaches are too nice. They shy away from confronting the working conditions that can cause psychological distress.”

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

📱 How does social media use relate to adolescent #wellbeing around the world? The answer depends on who you ask, and where they live. Read the full analysis in Ch5 of World Happiness Report 2026👇 doi.org/10.18724/whr...

Two bar charts presented under the title “Social Media Use and Life Satisfaction, 2022”. Subtitle reads: “Girls who use social media heavily report lower life satisfaction across several regions, while patterns among boys are more mixed and regionally nuanced.”

The top chart plots the percentage of girls reporting low life satisfaction (0-10 out of 10) in the regions: Asia; Central & Eastern Europe; English-speaking countries; Latin America; Middle East & North Africa; and Western Europe. Bars are presented for each by category of social media use, from none up to 7+ hours of use. Heavy users report the lowest life satisfaction across all regions.

The bottom chart plots the equivalent data for boys. The bars are, generally, lower than in the plot for girls.

The source of the plots is the chapter ‘Adolescent life satisfaction and social media use: gender differences in an international dataset’, published in World Happiness Report 2026, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

🔗 Despite growing interest in links between human and planetary #wellbeing, we know relatively little about the mechanisms connecting the two. A new evidence review examines how changes in our natural environment might contribute to e-co-flourishing.👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

A categorical heatmap presented under the title “Mechanisms for e-co-flourishing”. Subtitle reads: “High levels of human and environmental wellbeing appear to be linked, particularly through psychological benefits, but stronger evidence is needed to understand why.”

Five categories, “Psychological”, “Social”, “Physical”, “Environmental” and “Values-related” are plotted as mechanisms on the y-axis against the same five terms, plus the category “Overall”, as flourishing outcomes on the x-axis.

Colour-coding suggests there are strong positive findings in the psychological pathway and overall wellbeing, with more moderate and mixed findings in other categories. Around half of the chart is greyed out to highlight a lack of evidence.

The source of the plot is the paper ‘Mechanisms underpinning flourishing at the interface of humans and other natural entities: an umbrella review’, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

🧑‍💻 The most successful AI strategies prioritise key drivers of workplace #wellbeing – such as improving work quality, employee decision-making, and leadership development – empowering people, not simply replacing them.👇 www.forbes.com/sites/garydr...

Image of Jan-Emmanuel De Neve of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, alongside the quote: “The AI revolution will not be won by the organisations that replace people the fastest, but by those that empower them the best.”

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

🎯 Understanding the value of #wellbeing at work is one thing. Knowing what to do about it is another. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution to improving workplace wellbeing: what works depends on the organisation, the people within it and the conditions in which they work.

Image of two factory workers overlaid with a definition of the word “intervention”, which reads: “Noun. A purposeful action, programme, practice, policy, or activity to improve, maintain or protect factors that influence wellbeing.”

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

🌍 Our health and the health of the planet are often treated as separate challenges. A new paper published in The Lancet Planetary Health argues it’s time to think differently.👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

An image of a scuba diver swimming past a coral reef, surrounded by a shoal of orange fish, overlaid with the text: “Researchers have presented a new practical framework for developing and evaluating interventions that promote both human and ecological wellbeing.”

The source of the finding is the paper ‘Ecological-collective-flourishing (e-co-flourishing): a framework to guide innovation and research’, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

📸 Shifting focus from ‘I’ to ‘we’ helps us move from ill-being to #wellbeing. Speaking to The Independent, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve explained how the quality and richness of our social lives is an all-too-often underrated dimension of subjective wellbeing.👇 www.the-independent.com/life-style/w...

Image of a group of friends taking a selfie, overlaid with the text 'wellbeing' and, above it, the word 'illbeing', which is crossed out. The letters 'we' at the start of 'wellbeing' and the letter 'i' at the start of 'illbeing' are highlighted for emphasis.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

𝖭𝖨𝖱 7.81 out of 10 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 7.51 out of 10 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 7.50 out of 10 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 7.47 out of 10 Life satisfaction – a key component of #wellbeing – is not felt equally across the UK. Explore the 2026 UK Wellbeing Report, published by the World Wellbeing Movement.👇 worldwellbeingmovement.org/uk-wellbeing...

Map of the UK presented under the title “Life Satisfaction in the UK, 2025”. Subtitle reads: “People in Northern Ireland are, on average, more satisfied with their lives than people elsewhere in the UK.”

Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and nine regions of England are highlighted in shades of blue, with darker shades representing higher levels of life satisfaction.

Each is individually labeled: Northern Ireland (7.81), South West (7.58), South East (7.57), East Midlands (7.56), North East (7.51), Yorkshire & Humber (7.51), Scotland (7.50), West Midlands (7.50), East (7.49), North West (7.48), Wales (7.47), and London (7.41). The national average is 7.51 out of 10.

The source of the map is the 2026 UK Wellbeing Report published by the World Wellbeing Movement, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🧐 Burnout isn’t a new concept – we just came up with a new word for it. Take a look at what the Victorians called ‘overwork’ and how they sought to treat it in this fascinating piece by the University of Oxford’s Sally Shuttleworth for The Conversation.👇 theconversation.com/victorians-c...

A group of men and women in formal Victorian-era clothing and a sleeping dog are pictured in front of an archway in Menton on the French Riviera. The image is credit to Archives Municipales, Menton, catalogue reference 11Fi58.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

🤝 Happiness thrives when we feel we can rely on both the people around us and the institutions that shape our lives. About two thirds of UK adults rate their trust in other people at 6 out of 10 or higher – but far fewer report the same level of trust in the Government.

Line chart presented under the title “Trust in the UK, 2022-2026”. Subtitle reads: “About two thirds of UK adults rate their trust in other people at 6 out of 10 or higher - but far fewer report the same level of trust in the Government.”

The share of respondents who rated trust at 6 out of 10 or higher is presented for both ‘Trust in other people’ and ‘Trust in the Government’. The line for ‘Trust in other people’ remains largely stable between a low of 62.3%, and ending in March 2026 in a high of 67.7%. The line for ‘Trust in the Government’ is much lower throughout, but fluctuates more, starting at around 25%, dropping to a low of 19.%% in November 2023, and ending in March 2026 in a high of 29.2%.

The source of the plot is the Office for National Statistics’ June 2026 publication of Beyond GDP Insights, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

👊 We need to put the ‘social’ back in social media. Findings published in World Happiness Report 2026 suggest that people – young people in particular – might be better off without social media. And a sizeable proportion of US youth agree. #SocialMediaDay

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

👋 We enjoyed the sunshine with friends from across the #wellbeing research community on Saturday. A big thank you to Jan-Emmanuel De Neve for hosting, to Laura Taylor and Leoni Boyle for helping to spread the joy, and to all who made it such a special afternoon.

Group photo of members of the Wellbeing Research Centre community in grassland on Boars Hill with Oxford in the background.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

🤗 Social support – having people you can rely on when times get tough – is a big deal for population #wellbeing. The quality of people’s social relationships helps explain cross-national differences in happiness just as much as (and often better than) economic factors.

Stacked area line chart presented under the title “Social Support in the UK, 2022-2026”. Subtitle reads: “Almost 9 in 10 UK adults report having people they can rely on when times get tough. Social support is a strong predictor of overall population wellbeing.”

The share of respondents is presented on the chart in five distinct sections. The share of each section has stayed relatively stable over time. The largest section is ‘Strongly agree’ (45.2% in April 2026), followed by ‘Agree’ (42.2%), ‘Neither agree nor disagree’ (9.5%), ‘Disagree’ (2.6%), and finally ‘Strongly disagree’ (0.4%).

The source of the plot is the Office for National Statistics’ June 2026 publication of Beyond GDP Insights, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

LAST CALL: The deadline to submit a paper for the BSA Early Career Workshop on the Sociology of Work and Wellbeing at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, is next Friday 18 June.👇 www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-b...

Graphic to promote the Early Career Workshop on the Sociology of Work and Wellbeing taking place at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, on Friday 18 September 2026.

The workshop is a British Sociological Association Early Career Forum regional event. We invite papers exploring how to integrate and revitalise sociological perspectives on work and wellbeing.

The information is presented alongside a view of a group of people heading to work, plus the logos of the British Sociological Association, the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, and Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

🤖 The race to automate using AI is a race to the bottom – instead, leaders should be encouraging AI augmentation. Each path comes with its own short- and long-term implications, not least for employee #wellbeing and the health of the organisation. Read via @hbr.org👇 hbr.org/2026/04/why-...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

🗣️ “When leaders openly cut human compensation to fund AI, they are trying to project decisive, tech-forward management. “However, the actual message traveling to the workforce is that they do not have a secure future in the organisation.”👇 www.businessinsider.com/teradata-pau...

businessinsider.com

A CEO told employees they won't get raises in 2026 because the budget is going to AI

Cloud software firm Teradata has told employees not to expect annual salary raises in 2026, and says it is putting the money towards AI instead.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

🔢 Evaluative, affective, and eudaimonic dimensions come together in these four questions to constitute workplace #wellbeing. Only once organisations understand *how* their employees are feeling can they start to find out *why* they feel the way they do about life at work.

Graphic presented under the title “A Survey Module for Workplace Wellbeing”. Subtitle reads: “This succinct four-question module is designed to assess the key dimensions which constitute workplace wellbeing: evaluative, affective, and eudaimonic.”

Four questions are presented, alongside the labels ‘Satisfaction’, ‘Purpose’, ‘Happiness’ and ‘Purpose’. The questions are, respectively: “Overall, how satisfied are you with your job?”; “Overall, how purposeful and meaningful do you find your work?”; “How happy did you feel while at work during the past week?”; and “How stressed did you feel while at work during the past week?”.

A note highlights that responses to each question should be given on a 0 to 10 scale.

The source of the figure is Table 2.2 of the book Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

😢 Nearly 1 in 5 young adults globally report having no one to count on for social support – a 39% increase compared to 2006. Watch Jan-Emmanuel De Neve’s full conversation with Jay Shetty on YouTube or listen to On Purpose wherever you get your podcasts.👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzTQ...

Three stills from Jan-Emmanuel De Neve’s appearance on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, featuring the quote: “If you are less social, you will have less social support. In times of need, you’ll have less people to call on. Left to our own devices, we underestimate the kindness of others. So, we need to get in touch with, and in front of, other people to find out that they’re actually all right.”

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

😒 Comparison is the thief of joy. A study of data from 90,000+ people across 109 countries finds wellbeing is often tied more strongly to income rank than absolute income.👇 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Forest plot presented under the title “Income Rank and Wellbeing”. Subtitle reads: “Subjective wellbeing is more strongly associated with income rank than with absolute income or relative income deprivation - especially in the most materialistic countries.”

A total of 21 population-level domains are listed on the left-hand side, grouped into categories of ‘Economy’, ‘Confidence and Trust’, ‘Materialism’, ‘Individualism’ and ‘Social Preferences. Both the marginal effects of income rank on life evaluation and the differential of the effect versus a reference category are presented.

A positive association between income rank and subjective wellbeing is shown to be statistically significant across all domains.

The source of the plot is the paper ‘Social status and the relationship between income rank and well-being in 109 nations’, published in Nature Communications, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

🔍 World Happiness Report 2027 will investigate the existing and potential impact of public policy on happiness. Find out more and submit your own chapter proposal by Sunday 31 May👇 www.worldhappiness.report/news/submit-...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

🤔 When is a four-day week *not* a four-day week? William Fleming compares work time compression and work time reduction through subjective #wellbeing and domestic labour outcomes. His findings reveal divergent implications for UK workers.👇

wtr-rn.com

Reduce or Compress? Panel Survey Evidence from the UK on Working Time Arrangements and Wellbeing | WTR-RN

Home

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

⏳ The deadline for paper submissions to the British Sociological Association’s Early Career Workshop on the sociology of work and #wellbeing is Thursday 18 June 2026.👇 www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-b...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

🗣️ “Our approach brings conceptual clarity by clearly distinguishing between how people feel at work and what might be driving it and, in turn, that enables evidence-based policies to effectively help improve workplace #wellbeing and performance.”👇 www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-...

Flowchart presented under the title “A Model of Workplace Wellbeing”.

On the left, six groups of drivers of workplace wellbeing are listed: Development and security; Relationships; Independence and flexibility; Variety and fulfilment; Earnings and benefits; and Risk, health, and safety.

The six groups of drivers combine to feed the four measures of workplace wellbeing at the centre of the flowchart: Job satisfaction; Meaning and purpose; Positive emotions; and Negative emotions.

Workplace wellbeing is shown to feed three pathways to performance: productivity; recruitment; and retention, which in turn feed firm performance.

The source of the chart is Figure 1.4 of the book Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

🤝 Together with financial intelligence experts S&P Global, we have established a strategic collaboration to enable new research into how emerging technologies are changing the landscape of work.👇 wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/news/sp-glob...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

🤖 The most-automated roles also score lowest across all four measures of workplace #wellbeing. But there is no guarantee that those who currently do these unhappy tasks will find jobs doing more meaningful or enjoyable work.

Four scatter plots presented under the title “Job Automation and Wellbeing”. Subtitle reads: “Jobs with the highest degree of automation are also those that workers tend to be the least happy performing, across all four measures of workplace wellbeing.”

Data points are plotted by domain of workplace wellbeing on the y-axis, against a scale of job automation on the x-axis. Trendlines for each plot show a negative correlation between automation and the domains of job satisfaction, purpose, and happiness, and a positive correlation between automation and stress.

The source of the chart is Figure 12.1 of the book Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

No email. No paid leave. No remote work. Work has changed since 1926. The work week hasn’t. Yet a large-scale UK pilot by the 4 Day Week Foundation found that a switch to a four-day week was associated with a 71% decrease in employee burnout and a 35% increase in revenue.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

😊 Dr Marc Schulz will share life stories and research findings from nine decades (and counting) of The Harvard Study of Adult Development at Harris Manchester College’s Upton Lecture this May. Find out more and book your free place👇 hmc.ox.ac.uk/event/2026-u...

Graphic to promote The Upton Lecture at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

The 2026 edition will be delivered by Dr Marc Schulz at 5.15pm on Monday 11 May under the title “A Good and Meaningful Life: The World’s Longest Study of Happiness”.

For the 2026 Upton Lecture Dr Marc Schulz, co-author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, will present findings from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, of which he is Associate Director. Using life stories and research findings, Dr Schulz will share why the Harvard Study (and other studies) point to relationships as a key foundation of the “good life”.

The talk will be hosted in Harris Manchester College Chapel on Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TD.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

🚔 Crime leads to a range of adverse outcomes for those who live nearby, yet little is known about how the mental health of local residents is affected when an incident of violent crime occurs in their vicinity ... until now.👇 doi.org/10.1111/ecca...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

🤖 CEOs are facing a strategic fork in the road when it comes to AI. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Jeff Hancock and Kate Niederhoffer explore automation versus augmentation and their implications for employee #wellbeing and companies’ long-term success for Harvard Business Review.👇 hbr.org/2026/04/why-...

hbr.org

Why Companies That Choose AI Augmentation Over Automation May Win in the Long Run

Leaders are making a choice with their AI strategy: Are they primarily seeking to improve the bottom line through automation and headcount reduction, or grow the top line in innovative ways through au...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

🔍 Are you an Early Career Researcher studying the sociology of work and #wellbeing? Details 👉 www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-b...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Our idea of a ‘good life’ changes over time. Alberto Prati and Claudia Senik revisit the Easterlin Paradox, considering that #wellbeing scales refer to a changing context.👇 doi.org/10.1016/j.jp...

Line graph presented under the title “A Hidden Increase in Wellbeing, 1959-2008”. Subtitle reads: “Using a simple rescaling model based on current and retrospective life evaluations, we find that the wellbeing of Americans has substantially increased since the 1950s.”

The chart plots relative measures of reported life evaluation, adjusted life evaluation, GDP per capita, and augmented HDI from 1959 to 2008.

Reported life evaluation (as a blue line) has stayed relatively stable since 1959. Upper and lower bounds for adjusted life evaluation (as pink lines) rise over time, with the upper bound ending up at more than 2.5x reported life evaluation by 2008. People reinterpret their idea of a ‘good life’ over time, and therefore improvement to wellbeing may be hidden without rescaling.

The source of the figure is the paper “Is it possible to raise national happiness?” published in the Journal of Public Economics, of which a full citation is provided.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

📵 Against a backdrop of rising connectivity, several European countries (and beyond) have followed France in introducing right-to-disconnect (R2D) legislation. But the benefits are not felt equally across the workforce...👇 doi.org/10.1111/bjir...

Map of Europe presented under the title “European Countries with R2D Legislation”. Subtitle reads: “Right-to-disconnect provisions vary substantially across Europe in their reliance on collective bargaining, firm-level discretion and individual characteristics.”

Nine countries are highlighted in pink, with the year that they introduced right-to-disconnect legislation. They are: France (2017), Italy (2017), Spain (2018), Belgium (2018), Ireland (2021), Slovakia (2021), Portugal (2022), Luxembourg (2023), and Slovenia (2024).

The graphic also includes a full citation of the paper ‘Who Benefits From Right-to-Disconnect Legislation in Europe? Cross-National and Gendered Effects on Employee Wellbeing’, published in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

👀 Are your messages being received in the way you think they are? A switch from emails to voice notes can help reduce ambiguity in workplace communications, and in turn reduce negative experiences.👇 wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/news/loud-an...

Image of William Fleming of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, alongside the quote: “The variation we find in the different voice notes highlights that we have to think about who is receiving messages, as well as the task at hand.”

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

NEW: The relationship between income and #wellbeing is even more complicated than previously thought. A new study finds that subjective wellbeing is more strongly associated with income *rank* than with absolute income or relative income deprivation.👇 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

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Wellbeing Research Centre @oxwellresearch.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

🌱 Adolescence is a time of huge biological, psychological, and social development. New research across 6,400+ young people in 24 countries examines the connections among 49 wellbeing indicators, and how they change with age.👇 doi.org/10.1007/s109...

Network diagram presented under the title: “Developmental Network of Adolescent Wellbeing.”

49 wellbeing interconnected wellbeing indicators are presented, with stronger connections represented by darker, thicker lines. The indicators are colour-coded according to their grouping spanning subjective wellbeing (life satisfaction, affect, and domain satisfaction) and psychological wellbeing (flourishing and positive mental functioning).

Overall satisfaction with life and and satisfaction with student life are presented as central nodes of adolescent wellbeing.

The source of the diagram is the paper ‘Mapping Adolescent Wellbeing: Developmental Network Differences between Early To Middle Adolescence in
24 Countries’, published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, of which a full citation is provided.

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