Publication Type
Book Chapter
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
12-2022
Abstract
Subjective well-being (SWB) consists of affective components (frequent positive feelings, infrequent negative feelings) and cognitive components (evaluations of life and judgments of satisfaction). We review four commonly used measures of SWB: the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Cantril’s ladder, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (SPANE). We conducted a meta-analysis of the reliability and validity of each measure based on studies published from 1999 to 2019. The SWLS, PANAS, and SPANE generally exhibit acceptable levels of reliability (alphas > .80) across most samples, time frame instructions, and age groups. All measures were substantially correlated with each other. However, SWLS was more strongly correlated with SPANE-P than with PANAS-PA. We discuss key differences between the PANAS and SPANE and their implications for researchers. Finally, we discuss ongoing issues with commonly used SWB measures that should be addressed by future research.
Keywords
subjective well-being, measures, scales, satisfaction, emotion, affective well-being, cognitive well-being
Discipline
Cognitive Psychology | Social Psychology
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Handbook of positive psychology assessment
Editor
W. Ruch, A. B. Bakker, L. Tay, & F. Gander
ISBN
9781616766191
Publisher
Hogrefe
Citation
TOV, William, KEH, Jun Sheng, TAN, Yan Qiang, TAN, Qin Ying Joanne, & INDRA ALAM SYAH BIN AZIZ, . (2022). Assessing subjective well-being: A review of common measures. In Handbook of positive psychology assessment (pp. ). : Hogrefe.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3729
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