Display candidate transaction variables for article
| Id | 102 | |
| Author | Grossi, E., ; Sacco, P.L., ; Blessi, G.T., ; Cerutti, R., | |
| Title | The Impact of Culture on the Individual Subjective Well-Being of the Italian Population: An Exploratory Study | |
| Reference | Grossi, E.; Sacco, P.L.; Blessi, G.T; Cerutti, R. (2011). The Impact of Culture on the Individual Subjective Well-Being of the Italian Population: An Exploratory Study, Applied Research Quality of Life, 6: 387-410. |
Link to article | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-010-9135-1 |
| Abstract | This study employs a relatively new analytical tool – Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) – to explore the relationship between cultural access and individual psychological well-being (the Psychological General Well-Being Index – PGWBI). The particular ANN utilized is an artificial “organism” called TWIST, which has been designed to sort out the most relevant variables for the purpose of prediction or classification. TWIST was found to be useful in detecting the underlying relationships among the many wellbeing variables that were part of the study, and was superior to linear techniques in dealing with the full dynamic interactions that contribute to cultural choices and behaviours. A detailed appendix to the article describes this methodology in full. The data for the study were derived from a cross-sectional, randomized survey of 1500 Italian residents. The survey instrument included questions that assessed the psychological well-being of respondents in six domains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. Fifteen variables related to cultural access were added to the questionnaire, as well as activities related to sport participation and local community development, and respondents were asked to indicate the frequency of participation in each activity. |
| Candidate transition variables |
|---|
| Once we put the culture/well-being link under the right set of analytical lenses, it turns out quite clearly that culture counts, namely, that there is clear evidence that cultural access has a definite impact on individual psychological well-being (and particularly so if cultural access occurs in a well-balanced mind-body perspective), and moreover that culture provides for some of the most effective predictors of well-being. . | We refer to culture as the acquisition of purposefully constructed traits that have to do with intrinsic cultural motivations, that is to say, capabilities and competences that are targeted at a better access and enjoyment of cultural experiences, that is to say, experiences that are explicitly and uniquely designed by someone to expose other individuals to particular statements and trajectories of meaning. . | In particular, we believe that acknowledging cultural access as a major determinant of subjective well-being can be conducive to novel, challenging approaches to the design and implementation of public health strategies. . | For instance, urban transformation policies should focus upon arts and culture as an engine of individual and social change, that is likely to favor emotionally-based effects such as community engagement and empowerment, whose impact on subjective well-being may be substantial. . | Participating in the arts and experiencing culture on a somewhat regular basis can have physical, mental and social effects. . | As a matter of fact, different sources of evidence suggest that culture and the arts affect many aspects of our lives. . | Higher levels of education and acculturation allow individuals to make better informed and selfconscious choices, which have a positive impact in terms of self-determination and health-serving habits and practices. . | They found evidence of positive effects of performing arts practice, including positive changes in reported behavior and improvements in social skills and interaction among young people at risk. . | Cultural experiences may be much more than a nice way to spend ones free, leisure time. . | It is, thus, important to point out that sport and cultural access together may be read as a strong marker of an active and healthy life, and this is noteworthy not only from the point of view of the interpretation of the empirical analysis, but also in terms of the design of future health policies encouraging inclusive notions of capability-based fitness. . | But the strategic importance of culture in this particular context has to do not only with its capacity of shaping well-being by improving collective processes of sensemaking and of fostering new forms of sociability, but also with its strategic complementarity with the social production of other intangible resources such as education and skills, which are fundamental to local development processes. . | Shaping the social architecture of communities through cultural sociability and participation may exert a deep influence on the perception of worthiness and meaning of ones own way to spend personal time and energy. . |
MESOC has received funding
from Horizon 2020 - the EU Framework Programme
for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) -
under Grant Agreement n°870935.
We take your privacy seriously and WE DO NOT process any personal data or any information that reveals personal identity or information that can be linked to such information to identify directly or indirectly.
2021 © CD