Peace

Although peace is invariably regarded as a universal good, most research focuses on ‘outer’ forms (e.g., societal relations), with little attention to ‘inner’ peace (IP, i.e., tranquil states of mind). This may reflect the Western-centrism of academia, with low arousal positive states like IP being relatively undervalued in the West. But alongside broader efforts to redress such Western-centricity, an emergent literature is now exploring this concept. This report adds to this by presenting the most ambitious longitudinal study to date of IP, namely as an item – “In general, how often do you feel you are at peace with your thoughts and feelings?” – in the Global Flourishing Study, a five-year (minimum) panel study of the predictors of flourishing, involving (in this first year) 202,898 participants from 22 countries. The results shed new light on the personal and contextual factors that shape this valued yet under-studied outcome, and provide a helpful foundation for further enquiry.