Journal of Personality Assessment, 1985,49, 1.pdfVIP

Journal of Personality Assessment, 1985,49, 1 The Satisfaction With Life Scale ED DIENER, ROBERT A. EMMONS, RANDY J. LAR.SEM, and SHARON GRIFFIN University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Abstract: This article reports the development and validation of a scale to measure global life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Among the various components of subjective well-being, the SWLS is narrowly focused to assess global life satisfaction and does niot tap related constructs such as positive affect or loneliness. The SWLS is shown to have favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and high temporal re- liability. Scores on the SWLS correlate moderately to highly with other measures of subjective well-being, and correlate predictably with specific personality characteristics. It is noted that the S W ~ S1s suited for use with different age groups, and other potential uses of the scale are discussed. Recent years have seen an increase in need to ask the person for their overall research on subjective well-being (Dien- evaluation of their life, rather than sum- er, 1984).In this research, three separa- ming across their satisfaction wit11 spe- ble components of subjective well-being cific domains, to obtain a measure of have been identified: positive affect, overall life satisfaction. As Tatarkiewicz negative affect, and life satisfaction (An- (1976) wrote, . ..happiness requires drews Withey, 1976). The first two total satisfaction, that is satisfiiction compodents refer to the affective, emo- with life as a whole (p. 8). tional aspects of the construct; the latter Scales of general life satisfaction have to the c