Co-Directors
Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences
Baylor University, Institute for Studies of Religion / Sociology
Byron R. Johnson is Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University and founding director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. He is a leading authority on the scientific study of religion, faith-based organizations, and criminal justice, with research spanning religion and health, prisoner rehabilitation, and prosocial behavior. He is co-director of the Global Flourishing Study and a faculty affiliate of Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and several books, and has led federally and privately funded research totaling over $80 million.
A cross-national analysis of childhood predictors of daily smoking in adulthood
Communications Medicine · 2025
A cross-national analysis of childhood predictors of physical pain
Communications Medicine · 2025
A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in belief in God, gods, or spiritual forces in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in daily smoking across 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in self-rated mental health across 22 countries
Communications Medicine · 2025
A cross-national analysis of sociodemographic variation in educational attainment
Scientific Reports · 2025
A cross-national analysis of sociodemographic variation in suffering across 22 countries
Communications Medicine · 2025
A cross-sectional analysis of male versus female flourishing among 202,898 participants across 22 countries on 73 variables in the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2026
A cross-sectional study of demographic variation in health problem-related limitations in life across 22 countries: a cross-national analysis
BMC Global and Public Health · 2025
An exploratory cross-national analysis of the childhood predictors of inner peace in the Global Flourishing Study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Analysis of demographic variation and childhood correlates of financial well-being across 22 countries
Nature Human Behaviour · 2025
Analytic methodology for childhood predictor analyses for wave 1 of the Global Flourishing Study
BMC Global and Public Health · 2025
Analytic methodology for demographic variation analyses for wave 1 of the global flourishing study
BMC Global and Public Health · 2025
Association between Jewish religious observance and mental health among Israeli adults: Findings from the Global Flourishing Study
The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine · 2024
Characterizing the childhood roots of adult sense of mastery across 22 countries in the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood antecedents of adult place satisfaction in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood experiences and adult community participation in secular and religious contexts in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood experiences and adult prayer or meditation in 22 countries around the world
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood experiences and adult self-rated physical health in 22 countries
BMC Global and Public Health · 2026
Childhood predictors of adults’ belief in god, gods, and spiritual forces across 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood predictors of balance in life: a cross-national analysis of the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood predictors of belief in life after death across 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood predictors of charitable giving and helping across 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood Predictors of Dispositional Forgivingness in Adulthood: A Cross-National Analysis with 22 Countries
Applied Research in Quality of Life · 2025
Childhood predictors of health limitations in life across 22 countries: a cross-national and cross-sectional analysis
BMC Global and Public Health · 2025
Childhood predictors of perceptions of social trust across 22 countries in the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood predictors of political voice across 22 countries in the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2026
Childhood predictors of religious reading: a cross-national analysis in the Global Flourishing Study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood predictors of social support and intimate friends in a Cross-National analysis of the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Childhood predictors of suffering in adulthood across 22 countries
Communications Medicine · 2025
Childhood predictors of volunteering across 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Community participation in secular and religious contexts across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Comparison of the effects of childhood demographic characteristics on physical activity during adulthood across 22 countries
BMC Public Health · 2025
Comparison of the relationship between key demographic features and physical activity levels across 22 countries
BMC Public Health · 2025
Cross-national variation in faith sharing across religious traditions
Scientific Reports · 2025
Demographic Variation in Balance in Life Across 22 Countries: A Cross-National Analysis of the Global Flourishing Study
Applied Research in Quality of Life · 2025
Demographic variation in charitable giving and helping across 22 countries in the Global Flourishing Study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Demographic Variation in Inner Peace Across 22 Countries: A Cross-National Analysis of the Global Flourishing Study
Journal of Happiness Studies · 2025
Demographic variation in pain across 22 countries
Communications Medicine · 2025
Demographic variation in self-rated physical health across 22 countries: findings from the Global Flourishing Study
BMC Global and Public Health · 2025
Demographic Variation in Social Support and Intimate Friend Across 22 Countries: A Cross-National Analysis
International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology · 2025
Demographic variation in symptoms of depression and anxiety across 22 Global Flourishing Study countries
Communications Medicine · 2026
Demographic variation in weekly alcohol use across countries in the Global Flourishing Study
Communications Medicine · 2026
Early life experiences and adult orientation to promote good in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Echoes of compassion in the Global Flourishing Study: Cross-national distributions and predictors of prosociality and loving care
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2026
Flourishing in Argentina: Evidence from the Global Flourishing Study (GFS) across socioeconomic groups and levels of religiosity
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Flourishing in Hong Kong: An analysis of wellbeing-related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Flourishing in South Africa: Benchmarks and sociodemographic variation across 69 health, wellbeing, and related factors in the Global Flourishing Study
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Flourishing in Sweden: Great overall—but not for all
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Flourishing in the Philippines: Country-specific insights from the Global Flourishing Study
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Flourishing in Türkiye: A comprehensive country-specific analysis of wellbeing-related outcomes in the Global Flourishing Study
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Identifying childhood correlates of adult purpose and meaning across 22 countries (Global Flourishing Study)
npj Mental Health Research · 2025
Life course insights into social relationship quality: a cross-national analysis of 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Mapping demographic variations in sense of mastery across the world a cross-national analysis of 22 countries in the global flourishing study
Scientific Reports · 2025
Mental illness, mental health, and mental well-being
npj Mental Health Research · 2026
Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing
Scientific Reports · 2025
Religious centrality across 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Religious Differences in Physical and Mental Health among Israeli Jews: Findings from the Global Flourishing Study
Journal of Religion and Health · 2024
Seeds of Hope: Cross-National Analysis of Childhood Predictors of Hope in 22 Countries
Applied Research in Quality of Life · 2025
Sociodemographic variation and childhood predictors of showing love and care for others in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Sociodemographic variation in dispositional forgivingness: a cross-national analysis with 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Sociodemographic Variation in Gratitude Using a Cross-National Analysis with 22 Countries
International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology · 2025
Sociodemographic variations of belief in life after death across 22 Countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Spirituality, religion, and well-being among Israeli Jews: findings from the Global Flourishing Study
Mental Health, Religion & Culture · 2026
Strangers, Friends, and Everything Between: Sociodemographic Variation in Social Relationship Quality Across 22 Countries
Social Indicators Research · 2025
The distribution of optimism across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
The Global Flourishing Study: Study Profile and Initial Results on Flourishing
Nature Mental Health · 2025
The Prevalence and Predictors of Experiences of Beauty in 22 Countries: An International Assessment of Aesthetic Appreciation in the Global Flourishing Study
Applied Research in Quality of Life · 2026
The roots of belonging: childhood predictors of belonging in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Understanding Well-Being in Poland: Insights from the Global Flourishing Study
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
Understanding who volunteers globally through an examination of demographic variation in volunteering across 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Variations in character involving an orientation to promote good across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries
Scientific Reports · 2025
Well-being in the United States: Insights from the Global Flourishing Study
International Journal of Wellbeing · 2025
When the glass is half full: early life experiences and adult optimism in 22 countries
npj Mental Health Research · 2025