The method adopted in this study is secondary data analysis. It is a methodological approach based on using data designed for different purposes than the objectives declared in the study. The World Love Index is a scientific project based on the method of secondary data analysis through two different types of sources:
- To construct the Citizens’ World Love Index, secondary data sources from surveys were used. Consequently, the available data consist of the set of responses provided by thousands of respondents in surveys conducted worldwide.
- To construct the Institutions’ World Love Index, ecological data were employed, utilized by international organizations to analyze national policies on various topics.
Indicators selection and validation
The research team relied on a content validation procedure: a panel of international experts was asked to evaluate the capability of each selected indicator to semantically represent the general concept of Social Love and its constitutive dimensions. Following this, the selection and validation by international experts were subjected to a validity congruence analysis through multivariate analysis, specifically factorial component analysis. Below are the indicators considered valid for representing the dimensions of the concept of Social Love for the two indices: Citizens’ and Institutions’ World Love Index.
The Citizens’ World Love Index is based on survey data and aims to analyze citizens’ attitudes, behaviors, and opinions of Social Love towards others and the world.
The second wave of the Citizen’s World Love Index (WLI) integrates data from the joint survey conducted by the World Values Survey and the European Values Study (EVS-WVS 2017-2022), along with data from the World Giving Index 2022 (WGI 2022).
The European Values Study (EVS) and the World Values Survey (WVS) are two large-scale, cross-national, and repeated cross-sectional survey research programs. They include a large number of questions, which have been replicated since the early eighties. In line with the Memorandum of Understanding, both organizations agreed to cooperate in joint data collection from 2017 (EVS-WVS 2017-2022). EVS has been responsible for planning and conducting surveys in European countries, using the EVS questionnaire and EVS methodological guidelines. WVSA has been responsible for planning and conducting surveys in countries in the world outside Europe, using the WVS questionnaire and WVS methodological guidelines. 10 countries (Armenia, Czechia, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine) conducted surveys in both waves EVS 2017 and WVS7.
The other data source for the second wave of the WLI is the World Giving Index 2022. WGI is a synthetic index created by the CAF (Charity Aid Foundation), a leading international charity organization registered in the United Kingdom, to rank the most generous countries around the world. Following the same strategy as the first wave, data from the Gallup World Poll (GWP) are replaced by data from the World Giving Index, which ranks 119 countries based on their generosity using questions asked by the Gallup World Poll. The Charity Aid Foundation used GWP data from 2009 to 2021 to create the WGI 2022.
Using these sources, and particularly the joint dataset EVS-WVS 2017-2022, the second wave of the Citizens World Index has expanded in terms of covered countries compared to the first wave.
The geographical coverage of the Citizen’s World Index is 87 countries.
Below are the indicators selected and validated for each dimension of the Citizens’ World Love Index.
The indicators of the second wave of the Citizens WLI
Institutions’ World Love Index
The Institution’s World Love Index analyzes the extent to which institutions are oriented toward love. Each nation carries out a range of institutional actions that may, or may not, fall into the category of social love actions.
The use of ecological indicators allows us to reproduce predictable global properties directly from the territorial units. The information is collected at the territorial level and refers to the territorial unit of reference.
Compared to the first wave index, it has been notably enriched with new indicators selected from various sources and organized into the four dimensions of the Social Love concept.
Overabundance: Indicators are sourced from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals database (UN-SDGs) and The World Bank data (WB data). The UN Data Commons for the SDGs integrates reliable data and insights on the SDGs from across the UN System into a public repository with advanced search capabilities. The goal is to make high-quality datasets and digital public goods available to users, enabling seamless exploration of diverse statistical datasets, the annual global SDG report, and analysis.
Care: Indicators are sourced from the United Nations Human Development Report 2021-2022 data portal (UNDP HDR 2021-2022). The Human Development Report introduced a new approach to promoting human well-being in 1990. The report is published biennially and covers various aspects of society, including environmental concerns, gender equality, and poverty.
Recognition: Indicators are sourced partly from the UN Human Development Report 2021-2022 data portal and partly from the Inclusiveness Index. The Inclusiveness Index is produced by the Othering & Belonging Institute of the University of California, Berkeley. The index promotes research that examines processes of exclusion, marginalization, and structural inequality through the study of issues related to equity, justice, land care, marginalization, and inclusion.
Universalism: Indicators are sourced from The Good Country Index, created in 2014 to measure each country’s contribution to the common good of humanity and what it takes away in relation to its dimensions. The index is currently in its fifth edition and covers various topics, including science and technology, culture, international peace and security, world order, planet and climate, and others.
The geographical coverage of the Institution’s World Index is 85 countries.
Below are the indicators selected and validated for each dimension of the Institutions’ World Love Index.
