Are Americans Thriving? New Survey, Based on Arianna Huffington’s Bestseller and Virgin Pulse’s Research, Finds Out

Plenty of surveys examine our country’s overall state of happiness. But this is a tough concept to gauge, so how do we measure it in a way that represents the well-being of the country at large? Virgin Pulse, the market leader in the rapidly-growing employee health engagement category, has teamed up with The Huffington Post to create ongoing research that examines the state of behaviors that influence well-being in the new Virgin Pulse Thrive Survey.

The Thrive Survey is the first of its kind to examine the multi-faceted behaviors which impact well-being: these “thrive areas” pertain to physical activity, sleep, nutrition, close personal relationships, community contribution, financial security, resilience/stress, and creativity.

Virgin Pulse designed these surveys specifically to focus on one “thrive area” at a time. At five questions each, the surveys will be administered by The Huffington Post, then scored and analyzed by Virgin Pulse.

“A number of organizations develop thumbnail research that shows, at a glance, how happy Americans are—but there is little popular research that shows how we can get there. We want to illustrate the collective state of our behaviors that show how we are thriving—that is, flourishing and prospering in a way that leads to true well-being. While happiness may be highly situational and can fluctuate in the moment, well-being has staying power,” said Jennifer Turgiss, Dr P.H., M.S., Virgin Pulse’s vice president of health solutions who is leading the survey. “The themes examined and illustrated in the Thrive Survey align with those in Arianna Huffington’s best-selling book Thrive as well as those regularly featured in the The Huffington Post’s Third Metric section. We are fortunate to have a great partner in this important endeavor.”

“We are living through an incredible time, when modern science is validating a lot of ancient wisdom,” said Huffington. “And I’m delighted that Virgin Pulse, with its research expertise, is partnering with HuffPost to document the shift in the way we approach well-being. When we understand that there is no tradeoff between living a well-rounded life and doing good work, and that performance is actually improved when our lives include time for renewal, wisdom, wonder and giving, it becomes possible to reconnect with ourselves, our loved ones and our communities – in a word, to thrive.”

Huffington spoke at Virgin Pulse’s 2014 “Thrive Summit,” the company’s annual well-being conference, discussing “How Companies and Employees Can Thrive.”

The first survey, covering physical activity, has been issued and the data is currently being analyzed.

About The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is a Pulitzer Prize-winning source of breaking news, features, and entertainment, as well as a highly engaged community for opinion and conversation. The Huffington Post has 115 million multiplatform unique visitors per month in the U.S. (comScore, August 2014). The site has over 80,000 bloggers -- from politicians, students and celebrities to academics, parents and policy experts -- who contribute in real-time on the subjects they are most passionate about. The Huffington Post has editions in the UK, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Maghreb, Germany, Brazil and South Korea. The Huffington Post is part of AOL Inc. (NYSE:AOL).

About Virgin Pulse

Virgin Pulse, part of Sir Richard Branson’s famed Virgin Group, helps employers create a workforce with the energy, focus, and drive necessary to fully engage at work and in life. With its award-winning, online platform, the company fosters healthy daily habits and sustainable behavior change that help employees thrive at work and across all aspects of life. Unlike narrowly-focused employee health and engagement solutions, Virgin Pulse is a hub of consumer-focused strategies and innovative tools that set the foundation for a company’s health engagement efforts. More than 250 industry leaders representing more than 2 million employees have selected Virgin Pulse’s programs to reinvigorate their workplace. Learn more at www.virginpulse.com.