About
The Three Lives Institute — Cape Town, South Africa
The Three Lives Institute builds instruments that help two people see the shape of their inner lives — first alone, then together. We are a small, independent team based in Cape Town, a crossroads of cultures and perspectives on what makes a life good, meaningful and rich.
Why we exist
In 2022, research from the University of Chicago showed that a good life is not one thing but three: happiness, meaning, and psychological richness. Most tests still measure only the first two. We built The Three Lives to measure all three — for one person, and then for a couple.
Our promise is simple: ground every question in published research, show every score next to the study it comes from, and never pretend to certainty the evidence does not hold. Where the research ends, we say so — in the same sentence that uses it.
What you can count on
No single compatibility score
Averaging different kinds of evidence into one number misrepresents most of it. You will never find a compatibility score anywhere in this system — only dimension-by-dimension views, shown side by side.
Every claim carries its source
Each finding in your report links to the peer-reviewed paper it comes from, and names the confidence we have in it. If the evidence is thin, we say so in the sentence that uses it.
Honest limits, in plain language
This is not a clinical or diagnostic test, and our reports are built to start conversations between two people — not to predict how a relationship will go.
The best way to understand what we build is to take it
The free test takes about six minutes and needs nothing but your email.
Take the free test