The National Pleasure Audit

The National Pleasure Audit (Australia) was open to adult Australians of all ages from February to early May 2022. Over 3,000 people from across the country responded.

We asked them about their pleasurable emotions, sources of pleasure, favourite pleasures, and physical and mental health. Now we can reveal some of their answers!

This information will help us develop measures and interventions aimed at delivering positive outcomes with local, national and global impact by promoting resilience and mental wellness on a broad scale.

The National Pleasure Audit is led by Dr Desirée Kozlowski from Southern Cross University. Associate Professor Peggy Kern from the Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne and Dr Stephen Provost are collaborating on the project.

3,012 people answered some of the survey questions, with a total of 2,797 (92%) of individuals completing the survey.

The average age of our respondents was 49

We asked about sources of pleasure in people’s lives. What do you think are Australians’ top 10 sources of pleasure?

We gave respondents a list of 11 pleasurable emotions and asked them to rate the intensity of the feeling the last time they experienced it.

How do you think Australians ranked pleasurable emotions in terms of intensity?

We asked them to rank those 11 pleasurable emotions in terms of which were their favourites.

What do you think are Australians’ favourite emotions?

This is just a glimpse of what we found. We are currently analysing the data and developing measures and interventions. We plan to publish our findings in peer-reviewed journals and post summaries in plain language here.

If you would like to know more, email Dr Desirée Kozlowski.