New report: The Wisdom Panel Wave 3– wellbeing and illbeing
At the Center for Wellbeing, Welfare and Happiness (CWWH), we are proud to share new insights from The Wisdom Panel, a collaboration with Swedbank and Sparbankerna. The study follows a nationally representative group of older wiser Swedes to understand how wellbeing evolves as finances, health, relationships, and life circumstances change over time.
A key finding in Wave 3 is that wellbeing and illbeing are two distinct but parallel components of psychological health. Illbeing — measured through stress and worry as well as low mood — has a unique impact alongside wellbeing and is only weakly related to it. This means people can experience both at the same time, and the two need to be addressed in different ways. Notably, the report also shows that while the four TACK factors (Togetherness, Agency, Coherence, and Kinetics) explain most differences in wellbeing, they explain only a small share of illbeing.
The report further finds that perceived age matters more for wellbeing than chronological age. On average, participants feel 8.3 years younger than their actual age, and wellbeing is, on average, highest around a perceived age of 50–55. Wellbeing is also highest among those with a larger (but not extreme) mental age gap, indicating that how old we feel can matter more than how old we are.
Wave 3 also updates the Value of Wellbeing Increase (VOWI) by measuring what people would be willing to pay per day for a one-step increase in wellbeing. This approach produces a higher average value — around 4,560 SEK per month — and suggests that wellbeing has a time perspective: happiness is valued highest overall, while richness of life matters relatively more in the short term and meaning relatively more in the long term.
Finally, using advanced analytical methods, the report examines participants’ reflections on relationships, regrets, and recent events. Higher wellbeing is most strongly linked to themes such as healthy loved ones, frequent time with family and friends, strong friendships and shared interests, and being satisfied with life while looking forward rather than backward. Declines in one’s own health or in close relationships are among the themes most clearly associated with lower wellbeing.
This third wave continues the panel’s mission to follow how Swedes’ psychological health develops over time — and what we can learn from those with long life experience.