Academic Journal
Determining well-being during a crisis based on Twitter data.
| Title: | Determining well-being during a crisis based on Twitter data. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Wang, Xiao1 (AUTHOR) Xiao.Wang@UGent.be, Janssens, Bram1,2,3 (AUTHOR) Bram.Janssens@UGent.be, Bogaert, Matthias1,2 (AUTHOR) Matthias.Bogaert@UGent.be, Vanderbauwhede, Liesel1 (AUTHOR) lieselvanderbauwhede@hotmail.com, Schetgen, Lisa1 (AUTHOR) lisa.schetgen@hotmail.com |
| Source: | Annals of Operations Research. Aug2026, Vol. 363 Issue 1, p919-956. 38p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Natural language processing, *Sentiment analysis, Subjective well-being (Psychology), Machine learning, Realization (Linguistics), Crises |
| Company/Entity: | OpenAI Inc. |
| Reviews & Products: | Twitter (Web resource) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to determine how subjective well-being (SWB) can be predicted based on Twitter (or X) data during a crisis. Typically, a questionnaire, namely the international positive and negative affect schedule short-form (I-PANAS-SF), is employed to assess affective SWB. As natural language processing (NLP) continues to advance, two kinds of techniques (sentiment analysis tools and models based on textual representation) are employed to harness social media data for estimating affective SWB. First, we estimate affective SWB during a crisis by two popular sentiment analysis tools [i.e., valence aware dictionary for sEntiment reasoner (VADER) and TextBlob]. We evaluate the reliability of sentiment analysis tools as proxies for affective SWB and compare their performance to a manually labeled scale. Second, we conduct an exploratory data analysis to identify the hidden topics and major change points related to affective SWB. Third,we investigate five different textual representation techniques over five machine learning algorithms [i.e., elastic net regression, support vector machines, random forests, neural networks, and eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)]. Finally, we identify key drivers of affective SWB predictions by analyzing feature importance. Our findings reveal that for the three target variables in affective SWB (i.e., total SWB, positive affect, and negative affect), sentiment analysis tools are suboptimal for predicting affective SWB, as evidenced by their poor performance in the evaluation metrics. The models constructed using the combination of textual representation techniques and machine learning algorithms exhibit relatively strong performance. The models with the highest predictive capability include OpenAI's Ada embedding combined with neural networks for total SWB and positive affect, and OpenAI's Ada embedding in conjunction with support vector machines for negative affect, achieving RMSE reductions of 41.60%, 41.77%, and 38.00%, respectively, compared to sentiment analysis tools. Our empirical results show that models using advanced embedding methods (RoBERTa and OpenAI's ada embedding) are promising methods for predicting affective SWB. This research addresses a gap in the literature concerning the field of predicting affective SWB in the context of a crisis by utilizing advanced NLP techniques, machine learning, and social media data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Business Source Index |
| FullText | Links: – Type: other Text: Availability: 0 CustomLinks: – Url: https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1007/s10479-025-06578-9 Name: EDS - Springer Nature Journals (s7799221) Category: fullText Text: View record at Springer |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Determining well-being during a crisis based on Twitter data. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Wang%2C+Xiao%22">Wang, Xiao</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> Xiao.Wang@UGent.be</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Janssens%2C+Bram%22">Janssens, Bram</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> Bram.Janssens@UGent.be</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bogaert%2C+Matthias%22">Bogaert, Matthias</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> Matthias.Bogaert@UGent.be</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Vanderbauwhede%2C+Liesel%22">Vanderbauwhede, Liesel</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> lieselvanderbauwhede@hotmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Schetgen%2C+Lisa%22">Schetgen, Lisa</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> lisa.schetgen@hotmail.com</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Annals+of+Operations+Research%22">Annals of Operations Research</searchLink>. Aug2026, Vol. 363 Issue 1, p919-956. 38p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Natural+language+processing%22">Natural language processing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sentiment+analysis%22">Sentiment analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Subjective+well-being+%28Psychology%29%22">Subjective well-being (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Machine+learning%22">Machine learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Realization+%28Linguistics%29%22">Realization (Linguistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Crises%22">Crises</searchLink> – Name: SubjectCompany Label: Company/Entity Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22OpenAI+Inc%2E%22">OpenAI Inc.</searchLink> – Name: SubjectProduct Label: Reviews & Products Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="PS" term="%22Twitter+%28Web+resource%29%22">Twitter (Web resource)</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The objective of this paper is to determine how subjective well-being (SWB) can be predicted based on Twitter (or X) data during a crisis. Typically, a questionnaire, namely the international positive and negative affect schedule short-form (I-PANAS-SF), is employed to assess affective SWB. As natural language processing (NLP) continues to advance, two kinds of techniques (sentiment analysis tools and models based on textual representation) are employed to harness social media data for estimating affective SWB. First, we estimate affective SWB during a crisis by two popular sentiment analysis tools [i.e., valence aware dictionary for sEntiment reasoner (VADER) and TextBlob]. We evaluate the reliability of sentiment analysis tools as proxies for affective SWB and compare their performance to a manually labeled scale. Second, we conduct an exploratory data analysis to identify the hidden topics and major change points related to affective SWB. Third,we investigate five different textual representation techniques over five machine learning algorithms [i.e., elastic net regression, support vector machines, random forests, neural networks, and eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)]. Finally, we identify key drivers of affective SWB predictions by analyzing feature importance. Our findings reveal that for the three target variables in affective SWB (i.e., total SWB, positive affect, and negative affect), sentiment analysis tools are suboptimal for predicting affective SWB, as evidenced by their poor performance in the evaluation metrics. The models constructed using the combination of textual representation techniques and machine learning algorithms exhibit relatively strong performance. The models with the highest predictive capability include OpenAI's Ada embedding combined with neural networks for total SWB and positive affect, and OpenAI's Ada embedding in conjunction with support vector machines for negative affect, achieving RMSE reductions of 41.60%, 41.77%, and 38.00%, respectively, compared to sentiment analysis tools. Our empirical results show that models using advanced embedding methods (RoBERTa and OpenAI's ada embedding) are promising methods for predicting affective SWB. This research addresses a gap in the literature concerning the field of predicting affective SWB in the context of a crisis by utilizing advanced NLP techniques, machine learning, and social media data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Annals of Operations Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10479-025-06578-9 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 38 StartPage: 919 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Natural language processing Type: general – SubjectFull: Sentiment analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Subjective well-being (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Machine learning Type: general – SubjectFull: Realization (Linguistics) Type: general – SubjectFull: Crises Type: general – SubjectFull: OpenAI Inc. Type: general – SubjectFull: Twitter (Web resource) Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Determining well-being during a crisis based on Twitter data. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Wang, Xiao – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Janssens, Bram – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Bogaert, Matthias – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Vanderbauwhede, Liesel – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Schetgen, Lisa IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 08 Text: Aug2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 02545330 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 363 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Annals of Operations Research Type: main |
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