Subjective Wellbeing on the Tibetan Plateau: An Exploratory Investigation

While working on a project to build a school for Tibetan nomad children in a remote part of the Tibetan plateau, the author carried out the first empirical exploration of personal wellbeing with a small (n = 102) sample of ethnic Tibetans. Using the PWI survey instrument, significant age, gender, and education differences with respect to satisfaction with life were revealed. In addition, the magnitude of overall satisfaction with life was found to be more consistent with Western rather than Asian populations and, future security, standard of living, gender and age were identified as the strongest predictors of life satisfaction. This paper reports on the findings drawing on the literature, Buddhist philosophy and the author’s observations for explanation.