About the project
This project addresses the intricate and dynamic associations between human wellbeing and social relations. Wellbeing is a globally shared value and defined as a UN Sustainable Development Goal. Humans are also profoundly social. We fill our days and minds with other people – we are Homo Sociabilis. Associations between wellbeing and social relations are well documented, but the nature of the associations is still largely unchartered territory. Social relations may cause wellbeing, but association may also reflect reversed causality and shared confounders, such as genetic factors. This project will bridge important gaps between different fields of wellbeing research that have developed mostly as separate strands and integrate a) the notion of multi-wellbeing and a general happiness (h)-factor, b) the notion of wellbeing as strongly linked to our social world, and c) findings of both genetic and environmental effects on wellbeing.
We will capitalize on cutting-edge methods and leverage two internationally unique, genetically informative data sets; The Mother, Father and Child Cohort study (MoBa) and the Norwegian Twin Registry. The data include a total of N>270,000 individuals, and are longitudinal - spanning up to 30 years. Genetic data include genotyping in MoBa, providing opportunities to construct polygenic scores, which are weighted sum-scores of genetic variants associated with the phenotypes in focus. In the twin sample, we will examine genetic and environmental factors underlying wellbeing and social relations, and delineate the interplay between genetic and environmental processes unfolding over time. Moreover, we use data from Quality of Life Survey from Statistics Norway (SSB), and we will be collecting new data, including app-based ecological momentary assessments (EMA). All data sets provide rich information on wellbeing and social relations.
Objectives
To study the underlying structure of wellbeing, associations between wellbeing and illbeing, networks of wellbeing-related factors, causal factor in the social environment, and the role of genes and environments for wellbeing and illbeing.
Outcomes
We study life satisfaction, relationship quality, meaning, positive affect, resilience, anxiety, and depression.
Collaboration
The project is located at the PROMENTA Research Center at the University of Oslo. It is part of the ‘Quality of Life in Families’ project and involves collaborations with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and outstanding international researchers.
Financing
The project is funded by a grant from the Research Council of Norway, FRIPRO (#314843).