Human flourishing in LATAM: Universities carry out thematic mapping

Being better people, forming a better community, and improving the planet are aspects that tend to be encompassed by the concept of human flourishing, but how deeply rooted is this topic in Latin America?

Researchers from Tec de Monterrey, the University of Los Andes, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile have presented the respective results of the Regional Mapping of Leadership and Capacities for the Study of Flourishing in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Brazil.

The project, which began in 2023, includes aspects such as the concepts of wellbeing, resilience, happiness, emotions, spirituality, mindfulness, and mental health. 

In general, what it found was that the number of scientific publications and books with academic rigor on the subject is still low in the region.

The results of the study were presented during the International Seminar on Human Flourishing in Latin America, held at Tec de Monterrey’s Monterrey campus.

 

“It’s about mapping all the research being done on Human Flourishing in Latin America,” highlighted Enrique Tamés, Director of Human Flourishing projects at the Tec.

In their investigation, they found 7,827 book chapters, 4,936 journals, and 401 scientific books in the region on these subjects. 

The consensus at the seminar was that these topics are still chiefly being discussed in a serious fashion for academic audiences. 

“This type of information tells us that academia is publishing for itself, as the articles are read by specialists,” explained Professor Alberto Hernández, who led the study for the Tec.

According to the mapping, some of the contributions that stand out on human flourishing in Latin America have to do with aspects of wellbeing.

What’s more, one element of concern in the region is economic wellbeing, which is why literary production on this topic is relevant not only generally but also speaks about specific populations such as children, childbearing women, senior citizens, and migrants.

Another factor it found was the importance of positive psychology, which includes the concepts of resilience, the idea of happiness, emotions, spirituality, and mental health, to name but a few.

It also identified that certain researchers have focused on studying subjective wellbeing, relating it to economic development, poverty, and happiness.
 

Also participating at the seminar held by the Tec were specialists such as Lara Vicente from Nossa Terra Firme in Brazil; Tim Lomas from Harvard University; Matthew Lee from Baylor University; and Alden Lai from New York University.

Tamés emphasized the importance of this global participation:

“We had experts from different parts of the world, one of whom has a very sophisticated human flourishing center; an expert from Baylor who has provided continuity to our project for a long time.

“We had first-class guests and had them interact with each other. Each one presented their topic, the state of research on human flourishing in their country, and we all gave feedback on the work,” he added.

He explained that they focused on the zone of Latin America for two days, while they talked about Africa and Southeast Asia on a third day of activities.

 

The study included a series of interviews with experts on the subject in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia to explore how research on human flourishing is understood in these places.

“Flourishing doesn’t only depend on research. Fortunately, although research is a great instrument, people keep living.

“People have a culture and have an attitude to life that drives them to keep going although they don’t know where it comes from. This is what we have learned culturally, not from our families,” added Hernández.

Tec de Monterrey obtained funding from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) for the mapping.

After a year of work, the results of the study were published in sections such as:

• Trends in knowledge generated in the different fields of human flourishing
• Dissemination of the different concepts of the topic among collaborators
• Identification of the topics, interests, methodologies, and resources present in academic communities

Finally, they expect this work to enable the generation of new collaboration initiatives in relation to human flourishing.

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