A Multidimensional Index of Social Quality of Life (MISQL)

Abstract Measuring citizens’ quality of life has become a key challenge for economic development and fundamental to achieving social progress. Various approaches have been developed to assess quality of life, drawing on different perspectives—both subjective and objective—and using either unidimensional or multidimensional measurement strategies. This study proposes a new method for calculating a quality of life index that distinguishes between personal and social well-being. The proposed index is multidimensional in nature and focuses specifically on social quality of life. It is constructed using objective weights derived from ordinary least squares estimation. This new index is applied to data from Spanish regions, and the results are compared with other existing approaches within the geographical context under analysis. Due to the availability of relevant data in Spain, the model allows for the measurement of quality of life across different territorial units, as well as the estimation of an individual’s social quality of life score. This makes it possible to compare personal outcomes with the average levels observed among other citizens in the same area.