Measures Of Global Life Satisfaction Research Articles

Jaak Panksepp's primary emotions are associated with Diener's global life satisfaction: How low arousal of the SADNESS/separation distress system could form the core of life satisfaction?

We compared Ed Diener's Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), which was designed as a purely cognitive measure of global life satisfaction, with the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales 3.1, which provides self-report measures of Panksepp's six primary emotions (excluding LUST), in two English-speaking samples: a main sample and a hold-out validation sample. Our data showed robust negative correlations between higher satisfaction with life and lower FEAR, lower SADNESS/Separation Distress, and positive associations (albeit less strong) between higher satisfaction with life and higher PLAY and SEEKING in both samples. The relationships between the SWLS and at least four of Panksepp's primary emotions suggest Diener's SWLS is not purely cognitive and includes a strong affective component. In addition, detailed analysis of the negative correlation between the SWLS and the ANPS 3.1 SADNESS scale provides insight into the importance of the low arousal end of the SADNESS/Separation Distress brain system and supports the idea of a continuum of psychological states from high SADNESS including loneliness and depression to low SADNESS psychological states characterized by social comfort, self-confidence, and social strength.

Evaluation of Domain Satisfaction Measure in Cross-National Perspective: Evidence from Austria and Four Countries of the Former Yugoslavia

Previous studies have rarely examined the cross-national equivalence of instruments aimed at assessing domain-specific life satisfaction. The present study evaluated the cross-national measurement invariance of the Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult (PWI-A), an instrument designed to measure levels of satisfaction with seven domains of life: standard of living, health, achieving in life, relationships, safety, community-connectedness, and future security. In addition, we investigated (a) the mean country differences in both global and domain-specific satisfaction; (b) the contribution of domain satisfactions to global life satisfaction across countries; (c) the associations between both individual domains and the total PWI-A score with measures of global life satisfaction. A total sample consisted of 1153 undergraduate students (age range 18–35 years) from five European countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The results provided support for the full scalar invariance of the PWI-A across countries. Satisfactions with standard of living, achieving in life, and personal relationships were significant predictors of global life satisfaction in each country. Significant differences in global life satisfaction, and satisfactions with standard of living, safety, community, and future security were found between the countries. Strong correlations between the total PWI-A score and measures of global life satisfaction (r range from .58 to .83) obtained across all five countries support the use of the total PWI-A score as an indicator of overall life satisfaction. In sum, our findings support the use of the PWI-A as a measure of domain-specific life satisfaction in a cross-national perspective.

Individual Importance Weighting of Domain Satisfaction Ratings does Not Increase Validity.

Bottom-up models of life satisfaction are based on the assumption that individuals judge the overall quality of their lives by aggregating information across various life domains, such as health, family, and income. This aggregation supposedly involves a weighting procedure because individuals care about different parts of their lives to varying degrees. Thus, composite measures of well-being should be more accurate if domain satisfaction scores are weighted by the importance that respondents assign to the respective domains. Previous studies have arrived at mixed conclusions about whether such a procedure actually works. In the present study, importance weighting was investigated in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID; N = 5,049). Both weighted composite scores and moderated regression analyses converged in producing the conclusion that individual importance weights did not result in higher correlations with the outcome variable, a global measure of life satisfaction. By contrast, using weights that vary normatively across domains (e.g., assigning a larger weight to family satisfaction than to housing satisfaction for all respondents) significantly increased the correlation with global life satisfaction (although incremental validity was rather humble). These results converge with findings from other fields such as self-concept research, where evidence for individual importance weighting seems elusive as best.

Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Domain-Specific and General Life Satisfaction: A Study in Iran and Serbia

Although the associations between satisfaction with life domains (DS) and global life satisfaction (GLS) are well-documented, the roles of culture and gender in this relationship remain largely unknown. The main aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between DS and GLS among women and men in Iran and Serbia, after establishing measurement invariance across groups. In addition, we investigated gender and country differences in DS and GLS. The sample was comprised of 623 undergraduate students from Iran and Serbia. Participants completed measures of GLS and satisfaction with the following seven domains: standard of living, health, achieving in life, relationships, safety, community-connectedness, and future security. Satisfaction with achieving in life and standard of living had similar unique contributions to GLS among Iranian women and men, whereas satisfaction with achieving in life was a stronger predictor of GLS than satisfaction with standard of living among Serbian women and men. These two domains were the only significant predictors of GLS in Serbian women and men, whereas gender-specific predictors of GLS were found in Iran. The results demonstrated that students in Serbia reported higher GLS and DS than Iranian students. Furthermore, we found that women reported higher GLS and DS than men did, with the exception of satisfaction with standard of living for which no significant gender differences were found. The present study provides new insights into the role of gender in the relationship between DS and GLS across cultures.

Psychometric properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale in Parkinson's disease.

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a global measure of life satisfaction (LS). The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties (data completeness, scaling assumptions, targeting and reliability) of the SWLS in a sample of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). A postal survey including a Swedish version of the SWLS and demographic information was administered to 174 persons with PD; 97 responded and received a second survey after 2weeks. The mean (SD) age and PD duration of the 97 responders were 73 (8) and 7 (6) years, respectively. Data completeness was 92% to 97% for the five items in the SWLS and 92% for the total score (5-35 points). The mean score of the SWLS was 24.2 points (7.7), indicating that this group had an average LS. The items' means and SDs were roughly parallel and the score distribution was even. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.90. The test-retest reliability, assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was 0.78. The scale showed no systematic difference between the first and second response. The standard error of measurement was 3.6 points, and the smallest detectable difference was 10.0 points. This evaluation of the psychometric properties of the SWLS shows that the scale has good data completeness, scaling assumptions and targeting and that the internal consistency reliability and the test-retest reliability are acceptable. Thus, the SWLS is a psychometrically sound and suitable tool to asses LS in people with PD.

Adolescent Life Satisfaction and Personality Characteristics: Investigating Relationships Using a Five Factor Model

The current study investigated the relationships among personality factors and life satisfaction in high school students (N = 624), who completed self-report measures of global life satisfaction and personality characteristics consistent with a Five Factor Model (i.e., extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness). Analyses indicated that approximately 47 % of the variance in adolescents’ life satisfaction scores was accounted for by their levels of the Big Five personality factors. Neuroticism emerged as the strongest predictor. Openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion were also significant and unique predictors of life satisfaction. Regarding gender differences, a higher level of agreeableness was related to higher life satisfaction for girls, but not for boys. Findings support the importance of including all Big Five personality factors in exploratory models of life satisfaction, and contribute to an understanding of gender-specific models of predictors of life satisfaction.

Differential Validity of Global and Domain-Specific Measures of Life Satisfaction in the Context of Schooling

We compared the validity of a global versus a domain-specific measure of life satisfaction in predicting behavioral and achievement outcome variables among a sample of adolescents in the context of schooling. The sample included 694 middle school students (7th and 8th grade) from a suburban school district located in the Southeastern United States who completed self-report measures of life satisfaction, engagement, behavior, and grades. Actual grade point average (GPA) and standardized achievement test scores were reported by the school. Based on previous research and specificity matching theory, we hypothesized that compared to a measure of global life satisfaction, student scores on a measure of school satisfaction would demonstrate greater evidence of concurrent, short-term predictive, and incremental validity in relation to a variety of measures of academic performance and school-related behavior. The results did not uniformly support the hypotheses. Indeed, measures of global life satisfaction showed greater concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity across a variety of the school-based criterion measures. The need for further research is highlighted as well as the relevance of the findings for comprehensive assessments of child well-being.

Adaptation and Initial Validation of the German Version of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (German SLSS)

The present research describes the adaptation and initial validation of a brief measure of global life satisfaction, the Students’ Life Satisfactions Scale (SLSS), for German-speaking children and adolescents aged 10–17 years. Study 1 investigated the responses of 286 Swiss students (aged 12–17 years) administering paper-pencil questionnaires (e.g., Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire) during class on two occasions (interval 4 months). Study 2 investigated the responses of a heterogeneous sample composed of 3,407 Austrian, German, and Swiss students (aged 10–17 years), administering questionnaires online (e.g., Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale). The German SLSS showed unidimensionality, explaining approximately 60% of variance, an internal consistency coefficient of α = .88, and a stability coefficient of .55 over a 4-month interval. Study 1 found a moderate association between life satisfaction and social desirability (.20), and theoretically meaningful correlations with temperamental variables (–.16 with Psychoticism, .29 with Extraversion, –.48 with Neuroticism). Study 2 found no gender differences, but small age effects. Differences among Austrian, German, and Swiss students were also identified. Study 2 found correlations between German SLSS and domain-specific satisfaction (e.g., satisfaction with the self). The two studies support the usefulness of the German SLSS and provide preliminary norms for comparison purposes for subsequent research.

1439 – Translation and validation study of the satisfaction with life scale (swls) in greek general population, diabetes mellitus and patients with emotional disorders

The satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) is a brief five-item measure of global life satisfaction rated on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). It is noted as one of the most popular scales in the measurement of life satisfaction. To test the psychometric properties of SWLS. To create a valid measurement, easy to use for primary care and during treatment assessment in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), emotional disorder (ED) and general population (GP). Translation of SWLS was performed using the multiple forward and backward translation protocol. Life orientation test (GrLOT-R), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), was also administered to check construct validity of SWLS. 809 adults participated, 175 (21.6%) male, 634 (78.4%) female. The total scale of the SWLS had a coefficient alpha of .831. Item - total correlations where from .253-.783. Factor analysis has supported a unidimensional model with 1 factor explaining 68% of the total variance. Mean scores differed significantly between GP (M = 21 ± 6.3), DM (19.1 ± 6.2) and ED (M = 17.2 ± 6.9) (Mean differences = 1.847 and 3.723 p < .001 respectively). There was significant negative correlation with stress (r = -.297 p < .001), anxiety (-.297 p < .001) and depression (r = -.499 p < .001) and positive correlation with GrLOT-R (r = .499 p < .001). The results of the current validation study suggest that the Greek translation of the SWLS is both reliable and valid, with good construct and discriminant validity and psychometric properties close to those reported in the international literature.

Social Coping and Life Satisfaction in Adolescents

This study examined the relationships among early adolescent social coping behavior and measures of subjective well-being, specifically global life satisfaction and friend satisfaction. A total of 1,011 students in grades 7–8 at a southeastern US middle school completed measures of global life satisfaction, friend satisfaction and coping, on two occasions, 5 months apart. Social support seeking coping behavior at Time 1, but not problem-solving, distancing, internalizing or externalizing coping behaviors at Time 1, uniquely predicted global life satisfaction and friend satisfaction at Time 2. Implications for research and promoting adolescent well-being are discussed.

Life Satisfaction Amongst Police Officers Working in the Area of Child Abuse Investigation

Child abuse investigation is an area of work reported to be associated with high levels of work stress. This potentially places professionals at risk of psychological harm and may lead to lower life satisfaction than in the general population. The current study examined this issue within a large sample of Australian police officers. Specifically, 214 officers working in the area of child abuse investigation responded to a single global measure of life satisfaction (LS) known to be highly related to other measures of subjective wellbeing as well as clinical depression. The results revealed that, irrespective of the officers' gender or degree of exposure to child abuse cases, the mean score from LS score was within the expected adult normative range. Further, the overall incidence of low LS in this sample (1.9 per cent) was not significantly different from the general population (4.3 per cent). The implications of these findings for police organisations are discussed.

Life Satisfaction and Student Engagement in Adolescents

Situated within a positive psychology perspective, this study explored linkages between adolescent students' positive subjective well-being and their levels of engagement in schooling. Specifically, using structural equation modeling techniques, we evaluated the nature and directionality of longitudinal relationships between life satisfaction and student engagement variables. It was hypothesized that adolescents' life satisfaction and student engagement variables would show bidirectional relationships. To test this hypothesis, 779 students (53% female, 62% Caucasian) in a Southeastern US middle school completed a measure of global life satisfaction and measures of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement at two time points, 5months apart. A statistically significant bidirectional relationship between life satisfaction and cognitive engagement was found; however, non-significant relationships were found between life satisfaction and emotional and behavioral student engagement. The findings provide important evidence of the role of early adolescents' life satisfaction in their engagement in schooling during the important transition grades between elementary and high school. The findings also help extend the positive psychology perspective to the relatively neglected context of education.

Predictors of Life Satisfaction in Stroke Survivors and Spousal Caregivers After Inpatient Rehabilitation

A global measure of life satisfaction has become increasingly important as an adjunctive outcome of healthcare interventions for people with disabilities, including those caused by stroke. Life satisfaction of stroke survivors mayaffectcaregivingspouses, as well. The purpose of this study was to identify, among many physical and psychosocial variables, specific variables that were associated with life satisfaction at 12 months after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation, and variables that were predictive of life satisfaction 1 year later (at 24 months). Between 12 and 24 months, life satisfaction decreased for stroke survivors, while it increased for caregiving spouses. The relationship between the couple (mutuality) was the only variable that was a significant predictor of life satisfaction for both stroke survivors and their spouses.

The Relationship of Spirituality and Depression to Health Among People with Spinal Cord Injury

This article evaluates the dynamics of spirituality in an aging sample of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). We found that the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapies—Spiritual (FACIT-SP), a commonly used measure of spirituality in other populations, is a valid instrument when used among people with SCI. Age and chronicity did not appear to be associated with spiritual well-being, which was predictive of perceived health status. FACIT-SP scores also explained a significant amount of the variance in scores on the Life Situation Index–Z (LSI-Z), a measure of global life satisfaction, incremental to that explained by measures of depression, perceived health status, and interpersonal support.

Students Who Like and Dislike School

The major goal of this study was to investigate relationships among levels of 341 secondary school students’ school satisfaction and various intrapersonal, interpersonal, and academic measures. The measures included the School subscale from the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1994), Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1991), Children’s Hope Scale (Snyder et al. 1997), Behavioral Assessment System for Children (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), self-perceived grade point average (GPA) and participation in extracurricular activities (SEAs). Students were placed into three groups based on their school satisfaction reports, including very low (lowest 20%), average (middle 30%), and very high (highest 20%) levels of school satisfaction. Students with very low school satisfaction differed from students with very high school satisfaction on all adjustment measures; students with very low school satisfaction also differed from students with average levels of school satisfaction on all measures, except the self-esteem measure. Relative to students reporting average levels of school satisfaction, students reporting very high satisfaction demonstrated significantly higher scores on measures of global life satisfaction, hope, internal locus of control, and GPA. Finally, only three students in the very high satisfaction group and nine students in the average satisfaction group reported clinical levels of psychological symptoms. In the very low satisfaction group, clinical levels of symptoms were reported by 30%, 22%, and 16% of the students on the Clinical Maladjustment, Personal Adjustment, and Emotional Symptoms Index, respectively. Implications for future research and educational practices are discussed.

The association between activity and wellbeing in later life: what really matters?

This paper reports a study of the complex associations between older people's participation in activities and their wellbeing in later life using data from a national sample of 1,334 Jewish-Israeli retirees. Confirmatory factor analysis substantiated a division of the activities into solitary, formal and informal categories, as postulated by activity theory. The outcome measure, the latent construct wellbeing, was compiled from scores on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), a global measure of life satisfaction, and a measure of satisfaction with the use of time. The analysis also examined the influence of socio-economic status, health status and the quality of inter-personal relationships. ‘Social relationship quality’, also a latent construct, was a composite of measures of satisfaction with children, friends and neighbours and a self-rated loneliness scale. Path analysis using structural equation modelling was employed. The results showed that when the quality of social relationships was taken into account, the amount of activity had no independent effect on the respondents' wellbeing. Moreover, it was social relationship quality, a facet of informal activity that has generally been neglected in activity research, that emerged as the most influential variable in the association between activity and wellbeing. Thus, the findings provide empirical backing for the assertion that the quality of social ties matters more than activity participation per se as predictors of a good old age.

Does Weighting Capture What’s Important? Revisiting Subjective Importance Weighting with a Quality of Life Measure

The present study evaluated subjective importance weighting using data collected with the Injection Drug User Quality of Life Scale (IDUQOL). Weighted and unweighted IDUQOL scores from 241 adults were correlated with convergent, discriminant, and criterion measures. Regression analysis was used to examine the contribution of importance ratings to scores on a global measure of life satisfaction and the corrected weighted IDUQOL total scores. Overall, the results showed that weighted scores did not perform better than unweighted scores in measuring quality of life. However, the mean satisfaction ratings for important domains correlated significantly higher with convergent measures than did the mean satisfaction ratings for unimportant domains. This finding suggests further attention needs to be paid to the meaning and measurement of subjective importance and how it may be incorporated more effectively into measures of quality of life.

Contribution of Leisure to the Life Satisfaction of Older Adults in Australia and the United States

The contribution of leisure to overall satisfaction with life was investigated among older adults from Australia and the United States. Leisure variables included leisure activity participation, leisure satisfaction, and leisure constraints. Life satisfaction was evaluated as a global outcome using Life Satisfaction Index-Z. Cross-sectional, representative samples based on age (50–90 years), gender, and socio-demographic variables were developed within countries (Australia, N = 404, Mage = 67.9 years; US, N = 424, Mage = 67.7 years). Multivariate analysis of variance was employed to examine the effects of age, gender, and country on the leisure variables and global measure of life satisfaction. The two countries were significantly different from one another on all dependent measures, gender effects were found for leisure activity participation, and age cohorts differed significantly on perceived life satisfaction and leisure activity participation. Findings from hierarchical regression analysis showed that age plus all leisure variables, collectively, explained 32.8% of the variance in life satisfaction in the Australia sample and 28% of the variance in life satisfaction in the U.S. sample. Findings are discussed regarding the contribution of the multi-dimensional attributes of leisure to overall life satisfaction in old age. It appeared from this exploratory study that satisfaction with leisure is at least as important as activity participation and, perhaps, even more important in contributing to overall life satisfaction.

Impact of Demographic and Medical Factors on Satisfaction with Life After Spinal Cord Injury: A Normative Study

Objective: The aim of this study was (1) to examine demographic and medical predictors of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and (2) to provide a normative table for the SWLS that includes appropriate adjustments for the most important predictors of life satisfaction.Study Design: We examined predictors of the SWLS including age, education, sex, race, injury duration, number of rehospitalizations, marital status, employment status, SCI etiology, and level of neurological impairment.Participants: Individuals in the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center database [from 18 SCI model systems (1995-1999)] undergoing follow-up assessment were included for study.Outcome Measure: Satisfaction With Life Scale.Results: Univariate analyses indicated that marital and employment status, race, sex, education, and injury duration were significant factors associated with scores on the SWLS. In general, individuals who were female, white, married, and currently employed and had a higher education and longer injury duration reported significantly higher scores on the SWLS (P <.01). Effect-size estimates for these factors ranged from 0.16 to 0.41. Regression analyses showed that education, employment status, and injury duration were the strongest unique predictors of satisfaction with life but accounted for only 10% of the variance.Conclusion: The SWLS is a global measure of life satisfaction and is relatively unre ated to demographic and medical characteristics. Normative tables are provided for epidemiologic comparison.

The Differential Effects of Project Stress on Life-Satisfaction

The role of stress, particularly economic hindrance,in the prediction of global life-satisfaction wascontrasted between typically younger (n = 109)and more mature (n = 66) undergraduate students. Participants completed a Personal Projects AnalysisAppraisal Matrix including six stress dimensions, aswell as a single-item measure of globallife-satisfaction. Discriminant function analysesconducted on the students' Personal Project appraisalsrevealed that project challenge and economic hindranceaccounted for 25% of the variability inlife-satisfaction for the mature students, but none ofthe stress dimensions predicted life satisfaction forthe younger students. These results indicate that therole of stress in the prediction of life-satisfactionvaries as a function of age, with project challengeand economic hindrance playing a significant role inolder students' lives. The results are discussed inrelation to the developmental context of personalprojects as life tasks and the varying contexts foracademic pursuit between mature and typically youngerundergraduate students.