Richard Eckersley

Cultures define what we know about the world, and so what we do. We need to pay them more attention. This paper is a personal research narrative, and new synthesis, drawing on several decades of research and writing on the importance of culture in two related fields: the social determinants of population health and wellbeing; and models and measure...

A dangerous gulf exists between Americans’ concerns about their lives, their country and their future, and the priorities, proclivities and pre-occupations of the country’s mainstream politics and media. This is, to varying extents, also the predicament of other Western democracies. The paper focuses on the US because of its dominant global positio...

A dangerous gulf exists between Americans' concerns about their lives, their country and their future, and the priorities, proclivities and preoccupations of the country's mainstream politics and media. This is, to varying extents, also the predicament of other Western democracies. The paper focuses on the US because of its dominant global position...

There is growing scientific evidence that humanity faces a number of threats that jeopardise our future. Public perceptions of these threats, both their risks and reactions to them, are important in determining how humanity confronts and addresses the threats. This paper is based on a study that investigated the perceived probability of threats to...

Global politics is based on an outmoded and increasingly destructive model of human progress and development. Can science change a dire situation?

A survey of more than 2,000 people in four countries examined levels of concern across 19 personal and 23 societal issues. On average, 49% were moderately or seriously concerned about the personal issues, with health, wellbeing and financial concerns topping the ranking. Country differences were small, but generational differences were substantial....

Scientific and political interest in measures of human progress and development is increasing, but the indicators are far from capturing all we need to know. They place Western liberal democracies at the leading edge of progress, and present them as models of development; Western nations typically occupy all but a few of the top 20 places in progre...

The impact of inequality on health is gaining more attention as public and political concern grows over increasing inequality. The income inequality hypothesis, which holds that inequality is detrimental to overall population health, is especially pertinent. However the emphasis on inequality can be challenged on both empirical and theoretical grou...

There is growing scientific evidence that humanity faces a number of threats that jeopardize its future. Public perceptions of these threats, both their risks and reactions to them, are important in determining how humanity confronts and addresses the threats. This study investigated the perceived probability of threats to humanity and different re...

The past two decades have seen a remarkable surge in interest in measuring the progress of societies. The debate has focused on adequacy of economic indicators, notably per capita income or GDP (gross domestic product). Measures of subjective well-being (SWB) are attracting particular attention, with several national statistical agencies, including...

Definition The psychosocial dynamics model of progress and development reflects the complexity of human societies and relationships, and the importance of subjective, cultural factors (including moral and spiritual values) to quality of life. It addresses the limitations of both orthodox models and indicators (which emphasize objective, material an...

A new paper presents a strong case for life satisfaction scales (Diener et al. in Soc Indic Res, 2012). However, it underestimates two important weaknesses in subjective wellbeing (SWB) measures: the contrast between individual satisfaction and social discontent; and the contradictory evidence on the benefits of personal freedom. This commentary ar...

A report by Australia21 on an expert roundtable, held at the University of Melbourne on 21 February 2013, to consider the question: 'What are the benefits of large-scale reforestation and revegetation, and how can they be best achieved?'

Young people's health is continuing to improve in line with historic trends. Death rates are low and falling, and most young people say they are healthy, happy and enjoying life. For most, social conditions and opportunities have got better. Health efforts need to focus on the minorities whose well-being is lagging behind, especially the disadvanta...

The dominant perspectives on population-health research and policy have significant gaps that are limiting public health’s role in public policy. Most public-health initiatives focus on individual risk factors associated with physical health. From a health perspective, this emphasis neglects the importance of mental health; from a prevention perspe...

To critically examine the orthodox view that young people's health and wellbeing are continuing to improve in line with historic trends. Transdisciplinary synthesis is used to analyse and integrate a wide range of evidence on young people's health and wellbeing. Synthesis seeks coherence in the overall conceptual picture rather than precision in th...

The health and well-being of young people are important not only for their own sake, but also for the future health of populations and societies. Yet the debate about the patterns and trends in young people's well-being and their causes is marked by uncertainty and contradiction. This article draws on evidence from trend analyses, cross-sectional s...

The health of populations is an important, but neglected, aspect of the resilience of societies. Not only does population health affect the ability of societies to withstand adversity, it can shape how they respond to it – whether in ways that make things better, or worse. The orthodox view of health is that it is continuing to improve in line with...

This article focuses on the contributions and, importantly, the limitations of subjective wellbeing (happiness/satisfaction) measures as indicators of broad population wellbeing and societal functioning. The popular practice of comparing happiness among countries gives a skewed view of how well their people are faring. Charting trends over time in...

This paper provides an overview of current trends in the mental health problems of Australia's youth and adolescents. It presents information derived from the most recent and comprehensive Australian surveys of youth mental health, and provides international comparisons and views from professional practice where relevant. An update of trends for th...

The orthodox view of the health and wellbeing of young Australians is one of continuing improvement. This picture underestimates the importance of adverse trends in a range of chronic physical and mental health problems. These have their sources in quite fundamental features of western societies, and optimizing health will mean making corresponding...

Religion provides things that are good for health and wellbeing, including social support, existential meaning, a sense of purpose, a coherent belief system and a clear moral code. But these benefits can also come from other sources. Conversely, religion is shaped by its social context in ways that affect its social role. Religion is no panacea whe...

The human condition today is marked by paradox and contradiction. This situation reflects not just its inherent complexity and our incomplete understanding of it, but also parallel processes of cultural decay and renewal, a titanic contest as old ways of thinking about ourselves fail, and new ways of being human struggle for definition and acceptan...

Perceptions of young people's health and wellbeing vary greatly, reflecting differences between disciplines, ideologies and generations. Young people are resilient, adaptable and doing well but, at the same time, are experiencing increased rates of important mental and physical health problems. While some of the contradictions in the evidence can b...

The research literature on the social determinants of health focuses on socio-economic inequalities and disadvantage. ‘Culture’ is usually seen as part of this picture of difference—associated with minority status, ethnicity or race; but we also need to address the role of dominant or mainstream cultures in health and well-being. Cultures provide t...

The central purpose of a nation should be to improve the quality of life of its people. It follows that the primary function of public policy should be to improve quality of life; it is an important means to that end. This is not necessarily the assumption on which other chapters are based, nor is it the basis of social science scholarship more gen...

Are young people having the time of their lives, or struggling with life in their times? Research findings and commentaries are often a recipe for confusion. RICHARD ECKERSLEY draws on his new book, Well & Good: How We Feel & Why It Matters, to argue that it is not an ‘either/or’ situation, and to call for a greater appreciation of the causal layer...

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index has beendesigned as a new barometer of Australians'satisfaction with their lives, and life inAustralia. It is based on, and develops, thetheoretical model of subjective wellbeinghomeostasis. The Index comprises two sub-scalesof Personal and National Wellbeing. Data werecollected through a nationally representati...

Youth suicide has risen in most developed nations over the past 50 years, especially among males, but the increase remains to be explained. Statistical analyses were used to examine associations between youth suicide rates in 11-21 mainly Western, developed nations and 32 socio-economic and cultural variables. The central hypothesis was that suicid...

Is it enough to say that, because we are growing richer and living longer, life is getting better? Wealth and health are the main indicators by which we judge progress, and by these measures Australia, and most of the rest of the world, are making good progress. So is all well and good?

Bjorn Lomborg's critique of environmentalism has been praised by The Economist as ‘right’ on its main points and ‘just’ in its criticism of much green activism, and damned by Scientific American as a ‘failure’ in its purpose of describing the state of the world. Most of the debate has centred on Lomborg's treatment of environmental issues. But the...

In our postmodern times, context is everything. And in mental health promotion the widest context is whether life is getting better or worse. Put another way, and focusing on young people, are the patterns and trends in their psychological well-being located within a social world that is improving or deteriorating? The answer to this most fundament...

The Social Origins of Health and Well-being - edited by Richard Eckersley December 2001

Surveys of social attitudes are revealing a perhaps unprecedented paradox: a booming economy but persistent community disquiet. The puzzling coincidence is fuelling interest in what is perhaps the ultimate public policy question: is life getting better - or worse? The relationship between economic growth and human development is not as clear-cut as...

Increasing proportions of Australians are overweight or obese, a problem shared by all developed and, increasingly, developing nations. Now as many people in the world are overweight as underweight. Increasing obesity is a serious public health as well as economic problem. Its associated greater risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoart...

I sometimes think that the appeal of postmodernism to many people, myself included, is that it relieves us of the effort of trying to make sense of a world that no longer seems to make sense. This would have profound implications for science, which is, after all, about making sense of the world.

Disparities in health across the socioeconomic spectrum are now recognised worldwide and demand policy action. Pathways from social disadvantage to health outcomes are poorly understood, and reducing social disadvantage poses crosscutting political, moral and methodological issues. The Health Inequalities Research Collaboration, an initiative of th...

The progress of nations is widely believed to enhance the happiness of their people. However, whether progress, as currently defined and derived, is increasing happiness and well-being in rich nations is problematic. The paper explores the relationship between economic growth and human development and the use of subjective measures of both life sat...

The equation of `more with `better – ofstandard of living with quality of life – is at theheart of a growing international debate aboutindicators of progress. At one level, the debate isabout the adequacy of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) asthe dominant indicator of national performance. However, the debate also reaches far beyond thisquestion to cha...

The simplest response I could make to Peter Saunders' critique of my paper, Redefining Progress, would be to suggest that people read, or re-read, the paper and draw their own conclusions about the merits of our arguments. I hope some will. However, most will probably have neither the time nor the inclination to do this so, for them, let me offer s...

A recent Australian study sought to obtain a better understanding of what young people expect and want of their country in 2010, and to assess the value of scenarios as an investigative tool. The study had two components: a series of eight scenario-development workshops involving a total of 150 young people, most aged between 15 and 24 and from a v...

The need to redefine progress is not a new message, but it is becoming more compelling. Whether we look at young people’s well-being or, more broadly, at the overall quality and sustainability of modern life, the evidence is mounting for a fundamental change in our worldview.

Concerns for young people in today’s world are well based. If we are to improve their social and emotional well-being, we must face up to the problem, not deny that it exists.

For over two centuries, technological innovation has been closely linked to the notion of progress, especially in developed nations. Progress has been largely defined and measured in material - that is, economic - terms, and research and development (R and D) have been directed increasingly towards improving economic performance. The fundamental as...

Young people's relationship with the future is complex and contradictory. Some surveys and commentaries suggest most are optimistic, others that they are pessimistic. Some indicate they are adapted to the postmodern world of rapid change and uncertainty, others that they are anxious and apprehensive. Some of these differences can be readily explain...

Young people’s relationship with the future is complex and contradictory. Some surveys and commentaries suggest most are optimistic, others that they are pessimistic. Some indicate they are adapted to the postmodern world of rapid change and uncertainty, others that they are anxious and apprehensive. Some of these differences can be readily explain...

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In this age of dissatisfaction with our present, and unease about our future, science writer and strategic analyst Richard Eckersley challenges us to address the fundamental issue of 'how we are to live' - an issue he places beyond the quantifiable and policy-based matters and into the wider realm of culture or 'how we see the world and our place i...

Trends in suicide, mental disorders, drug abuse and crime suggest western industrial societies are becoming increasingly harmful to psychological and social well-being. These trends are usually explained in personal, social and economic terms; problems in personal relationships, poverty, family conflict and breakdown, unemployment, homelessness, ed...

An analysis of the social and psychological problems faced by young people in Australia.

The human condition today is marked by paradox and contradiction. This situation reflects not just its inherent complexity and our incomplete understanding of it, but also parallel processes of cultural decay and renewal, a titanic contest as old ways of thinking about ourselves fail, and new ways of being human struggle for definition and acceptan...

INTRODUCTION The orthodox view of young people's health and wellbeing is of continuing improvement, in line with historical trends. In this chapter, I argue against this view because it over-estimates the importance of declining death rates and underestimates that of adverse trends in a range of non-fatal, chronic health problems, both physical and...

Over the past several decades, we have witnessed a profound loss of faith in a future constructed around notions of material progress, economic growth and scientific and technological fixes to the challenges we face. This demise of the 'official future' is of utmost importance, but remains largely ignored in public and political debate. The failure...

Several years ago, in the summer of 1996-97, I was caught up in a passionate debate about obscenity in rock music lyrics. It began with an article I wrote for The Australian in which I argued that the extreme violence and obscenity in some rock music was perhaps -I was fairly tentative about this -one of the many ways in which the mass media were c...