The Impact of Culture on the Individual Subjective Well-Being of the Italian Population: An Exploratory Study

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between cultural access and individual psychological well-being, in order
to provide a possible estimation of the impact of cultural participation upon subjective perceptions of well being. Our exploratory
research was based on a cross-sectional survey undertook on a medium-large sample (n = 1500) of Italian residents in fall 2008. We refer to the Psychological General Well-Being Index–PGWBI, a tool that has
been validated through 30 years of research, as an index of measurement. Moreover, we have administered to the sample an additional
questionnaire inquiring about access to 15 distinct culturally related activities. Data are processed by means of a specific
methodology based on ANN and Called TWIST. TWIST has been developed by the Semeion Research Center, Rome. Our analysis suggests
that culture has a relevant role as a determinant of individual psychological well-being, in that a selected subset of cultural
variables turn out to perform among the best predictors of individual PGWB levels. Our results also allow some preliminary
considerations about innovative, well-being focused public health policies leveraging upon the human and social developmental
role of culture.