The Human Development Index (HDI) is typically used as a wellbeing measurement, in the sense that it extends beyond the economic health (GDP) of a nation (Hou, 2015). By nature of the volume of complexity, it is a simplification, and does not factor in equity (the division between wealthy and impoverished within a country, for example), or empowerment and levels of inclusion (Hou, 2015).
Instead, Dodge, et al. present an elegant model of wellbeing (2012).
This model could be equally applied to individuals, or to nations or regions. Both sides of the scale could be quantified, and dynamic balance is understood as inherent.
It still leaves key areas largely undefined, however. In order to quantify and compare, resources and challenges would need to be defined. How one nation defines psychological resources or challenges, for example, may be vastly different from another nation (even at an individual level within nations, definitions may vary broadly).
Though Dodge, et al. do not extend into this line of thinking, I could add that, on a scale of global wellbeing, divergence is happening when the scale moves too far in either direction, and convergence is happening when the scale is near centre or moving towards centre.
Significantly, that highlights that it is possible to have “too much of a good thing” – if a nation is over-resourced, excess and inequity may be perpetuated, which in practice we know to be true (think indoor skiing in Dubai, or super-sizing everything in the US).
It follows then that another strength of this model is, as the Human Development and the Anthropocene Report (UN, 2020) urges, structurally including the natural environment on which we depend. If we over consume resources, the scale will tip away from wellbeing.
Lastly, the model reinforces an appreciative inquiry approach. It is in essence a way to focus on convergence and wellbeing, rather than a focus on problems and divergence.
References
Dodge, R., Daly, A., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222-235. doi:10.5502/ijw.v2i3.4
Hou, J., Walsh, P. & Zhang, J. (2015) The dynamics of Human Development Index, The Social Science Journal, 52:3, 331-347, DOI: 10.1016/j.soscij.2014.07.003
United Nations Development Programme (2020). Human Development Report. The Next Frontier: Human development and the Anthropocene. http://hdr.undp.org/en/2020-report