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An Italian Composite Subjective Well-Being Index: The Voice of Twitter Users from 2012 to 2017

Author

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  • S. M. Iacus

    (Università degli Studi di Milano)

  • G. Porro

    (Università degli Studi dell’Insubria)

  • S. Salini

    (Università degli Studi di Milano)

  • E. Siletti

    (Università degli Studi di Milano)

Abstract

Since 2012, driven by the desire to propose a subjective well-being index (SWBI) complementary to the traditional measures, with high time and space frequency, our team evaluates, analysing Twitter data, a composite index that captures various aspects and dimensions of individual and collective life. The SWBI is a multidimensional indicator whose components were inspired by the dimensions adopted for the Happy Planet Index provided by the New Economic Foundation. In detail, it consists of eight dimensions that describe three different areas: personal well-being, social well-being and well-being at work. The Italian subjective well-being index ( $$\hbox {SWBI}_{{ITA}}$$ SWBI ITA ), that we display here, audits the Italian subjective well-being revealed by tweets acquired via the public Twitter API, written in the Italian language, and posted from Italy from January 2012 to December 2017. Around 1–5% of the data includes geo-referenced information, which allows us to provide an index at local level. The Twitter data analysis is carried on with a human supervised sentiment analysis method, the Integrated Sentiment Analysis (iSA) algorithm. In this work, after a weighting procedure adopted to partially overcome the selection bias caused by the use of data from social network, we describe the $$\hbox {SWBI}_{{ITA}}$$ SWBI ITA dimensions in the considered period at the regional level. Moreover, for some dimensions, for which a similar currently available measure provided by Italian official statistics exists, comparisons are proposed emphasizing novelties, similarities and differences.

Suggested Citation

  • S. M. Iacus & G. Porro & S. Salini & E. Siletti, 2022. "An Italian Composite Subjective Well-Being Index: The Voice of Twitter Users from 2012 to 2017," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 471-489, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:161:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02319-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02319-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    2. Luigi Curini & Stefano Iacus & Luciano Canova, 2015. "Measuring Idiosyncratic Happiness Through the Analysis of Twitter: An Application to the Italian Case," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 525-542, April.
    3. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    4. John Feddersen & Robert Metcalfe & Mark Wooden, 2016. "Subjective wellbeing: why weather matters," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 179(1), pages 203-228, January.
    5. Stefano Maria IACUS & Giuseppe PORRO & Silvia SALINI & Elena SILETTI, 2015. "Social Networks, Happiness and Health: From Sentiment Analysis to a Multidimensional Indicator of Subjective Well-Being," Departmental Working Papers 2015-20, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tiziana CARPI & Airo HINO & Stefano Maria IACUS & Giuseppe PORRO, 2022. "A Japanese Subjective Well-Being Indicator Based on Twitter Data [‘Collective Smile: Measuring Societal Happiness from Geolocated Images’]," Social Science Japan Journal, University of Tokyo and Oxford University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 273-296.
    2. Tiziana Carpi & Airo Hino & Stefano Maria Iacus & Giuseppe Porro, 2021. "Twitter Subjective Well-Being Indicator During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Country Comparative Study," Papers 2101.07695, arXiv.org.
    3. Greyling, Talita & Rossouw, Stephanié, 2024. "Development and validation of a real-time happiness index using Google TrendsTM," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1493, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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