Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
IEEE Access, cilt.13, ss.98076-98087, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Happiness, a universal component that affects human life, is defined as personal well-being that includes a person’s evaluation of life satisfaction. Although the perception of happiness varies from person to person, it is the main goal societies want to achieve. In this regard, studies on how happiness can be measured continue from the past to the present. In this context, the World Happiness Report includes happiness index values created using eight criteria with equal weights on a country basis. This study assumes that the variables used to calculate the happiness index values have different weights. These weights are obtained using the Best-Worst method, one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods. The BWM results, derived from expert evaluations, indicate that ’Freedom to Make Life Choices’ is the most influential factor, while ’Generosity’ is the least. Then, using these weights, countries are clustered into three using the k-means method, one of the unsupervised learning techniques. When the clusters are examined, it is seen that there are countries with similar characteristics in the clusters. The clustering analysis reveals three distinct country groups, where countries in Cluster 1 show higher and more homogeneous well-being indicators, whereas countries in Cluster 3 are characterized by low and more diverse scores. Furthermore, scenario analyses demonstrate the sensitivity of the clustering outcomes to changes in specific variable weights. The results emphasize that incorporating weighted criteria offers a more realistic and intuitive classification of the happiness profiles of the countries.