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Article History

Received: 25 January 2022

Accepted: 4 September 2025

First Online: 31 October 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This research involved two separate datasets and received appropriate ethical oversight from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Pennsylvania (Federalwide Assurance #00004028). (1) Weibo Data: This dataset was reviewed under the protocol titled The World Well-Being Project (WWBP) – Weibo (Protocol #829811) and determined that it met the criteria for exemption under 45 CFR 46.104, Category 4. The exemption was granted by IRB on May 21, 2018. The study involved only secondary analysis of publicly available data. Indirect identifiers or metadata that could pose re-identification risks were excluded from the dataset. (2) Facebook Data: The dataset was reviewed under the protocol titled Human Flourishing in Social Network (Facebook) Data (Protocol # 813820) and determined that it met the criteria for exemption under 45 CFR 46.101, Category 4. The exemption was granted by the IRB on June 20, 2011. The data were originally collected by a third party via the myPersonality Facebook application between 2009 and 2011; for the present study, we used data collected in 2010 and 2011. Participants consented to their data being used for academic research at the time of collection. Our research team was not involved in data collection, did not receive any identifying information, and had no means of re-identifying participants. The dataset was provided in fully de-identified form, in accordance with the IRB-approved protocol. As the research team has no available means to re-identify the participants, GDPR regulations did not apply. All members of the research team completed CITI certification in the protection of human subjects, as required by the University of Pennsylvania. Data were stored on secure, institution-controlled servers, subject to annual privacy and security audits. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013 version) and relevant institutional and U.S. federal regulations and guidelines.

: This research involved two separate datasets, each with different consent requirements: (1) Weibo Data: Informed consent was waived for the use of public Weibo data. The Institutional Review Board of the University of Pennsylvania granted an exemption (Protocol #829811, approved May 21, 2018) under 45 CFR 46.104, Category 4, which permits secondary research use of publicly available, non-identifiable data. No private data, indirect identifiers, or metadata enabling re-identification were collected, and no contact with individuals occurred. (2) Facebook Data: The data were originally collected via the myPersonality Facebook application, operated by a third party. At the time of participation, users explicitly consented to the academic use of their status updates, demographic information, and psychological assessments. Our research team did not collect the data, was not involved in the consent process, and never received identifiable information. The dataset was provided to us in fully de-identified form, as approved under IRB Protocol #813820 (approved June 20, 2011). Because the data were anonymized and no re-identification was possible, further contact with participants was neither feasible nor required. Data retention and archiving follow the University of Pennsylvania’s institutional policies for human subjects research, with secure storage maintained as long as necessary for academic, ethical, and regulatory compliance.