Well-Being Among LGBTQ+ Americans Rests Well Below the Nation's Average

[Behind the Aegis]

What is “well-being,” exactly? There are a number of definitions out there, but the American Psychological Association describes general well-being as “a state of happiness and contentment, with low levels of distress, overall good physical and mental health and outlook, or good quality of life.”

There are also a number of different types of well-being, such as financial well-being and physical well-being. The CivicScience Well-Being Index looks specifically at emotional well-being, and does so by gauging how strongly a respondent reports that they feel certain emotions at any given time, such as happiness, sadness, and stress. Over time, we see the daily emotional pulse of the nation take shape as well-being rises and falls, sometimes abruptly. And we continue to discover how emotional well-being trends are connected to all sorts of behaviors.

Of course, the index also shows how differently people respond to things like global events, economic pressures, and even weather patterns, as well as highlights disparities that exist in well-being across segments of the population, including LGBTQ+ individuals.

Recent survey results show that adults who identify as LGBTQ+ report lower emotional well-being on average than the Gen Pop. The well-being score so far for the month of June rests at 48% for LGBTQ+ adults, compared to 56% for the U.S. general population.

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