Measuring Subjective and Psychological Well-Being
Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener
Copyright May, 2008-05-26
Use of these measures is free and open, and can be done without
written permission, as long as credit is given to the authors. The credit
is to Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, 2008, Happiness: Unlocking
the mysteries of psychological wealth. New York: Wiley/Blackwell. More
information on the causes and benefits of a happy life can be found in
that book.
Measuring Your Satisfaction With Life
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)(Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,
1984)
Below are five statements with which you may agree or disagree. Using
the scale below, indicate your agreement with each item by placing
the appropriate number on the line preceding that item. Please be
open and honest in your response.
7 Strongly agree
6 Agree
5 Slightly agree
4 Neither agree nor disagree
3 Slightly disagree
2 Disagree
1 Strongly disagree
_____ In most ways, my life is close to my ideal.
_____ The conditions of my life are excellent.
_____ I am satisfied with my life.
_____ So far, I have gotten the important things I want in life.
_____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
Now add up your total score for the five items: ______
Interpretation
31–35 Extremely satisfied
26–30 Satisfied
21–25 Slightly satisfied
20 Neutral; an equal mix of satisfaction and dissatisfaction
15–19 Slightly dissatisfied
10–14 Dissatisfied
5–9 Extremely dissatisfied
Extremely satisfied (31-35)
You feel that your life has gone very well, and the circumstances of
your life are excellent. Most people who score in this range feel that
the major areas of their lives are positive – work, leisure, relationships,
and health. They don’t feel that their lives are perfect, but that their
lives are very rewarding.
Satisfied (26-30)
Your life is rewarding, but you would like to see improvement in some
areas. People in this range are happy and feel very good about their
lives.
Slightly satisfied (21-25)
You feel that generally your life is going well, although you would like
to see improvement in some domains. Some areas of your life need
improvement, or most areas are going modestly well, but you have not
yet achieved the level you would like to attain in many areas.
Neutral (20)
There is a mix of good and bad in your life. There are about as many
things going well as things you would like to improve. Things are not
terrible, but neither are they as rewarding as you would like.
Slightly dissatisfied (15-19)
If your score on life satisfaction has dropped recently due to specific
bad events, then a score in this range is not of concern. However, if
your score is chronically in this somewhat low range, you might want
to ask why, and what you can do to increase your satisfaction. Perhaps
there are things in your life that cannot be changed at this point,
but in this case, should you change your expectations? Perhaps there
are conditions that you can change? If your life is on an upward
trajectory and you are optimistic about the future, there is probably no
concern.
Dissatisfied (10-14)
Life satisfaction scores in this low range can be a matter of concern,
and you should think about how to improve things. Might seeing a
clergyperson or mental health professional help? Perhaps you are just
going through a temporary bad time or have not achieved many of the
things you hope to, in which case your score might not be of concern.
However, in other cases, scores in this range point to some areas of
your life needing strong improvement.
Extremely dissatisfied (5-9)
Perhaps some recent extremely bad event has influenced your current
life satisfaction. However, if your life satisfaction has been in this low
range for some time, some things in your life are in need of change,
and you might need the help of others, including professionals, to
improve your situation. A number of things may be drastically wrong,
and it is time to make very serious efforts to turn your life around.
The Causes of Life Satisfaction
For most people, life satisfaction depends on doing well in major
areas of life, such as relationships, health, work, income, spirituality,
and leisure. When a person is
doing badly in one of these areas, it can color his or her overall life
satisfaction. People who score high on life satisfaction usually have
close and supportive family and friends,
often have a close romantic partner (although this is not absolutely
necessary), have rewarding work or retirement activities, enjoy their
leisure, and have good health. They feel that life is meaningful, and
have goals and values that are important to them. People who score
high in life satisfaction usually do not have problems with addictions,
such as gambling, drugs, or alcoholism.
The first three items of the Satisfaction with Life Scale focus
primarily on a person’s current life, whereas the last two items ask how
one’s life has been previously, up until the present. Some people score
high on the first three items of the life satisfaction scale, but score
lower on the last two items. This suggests that their lives are going
well now, but that they are not entirely satisfied with their pasts. Other
individuals might score low on the first three items, but higher on the
last two items. This pattern suggests the respondent sees his or her
past as more desirable than the present. Thus, a discrepancy in the
scores between the first three items and the last two items can reveal
whether people view their lives as improving or declining.
Measuring Your Emotional Well-Being
The Emotional Wellness Scale (EWS)
Please think about what you have been doing and experiencing during
the past four weeks. Then report how much you experienced each of
the following feelings, using the scale below. For each item, select a
number from 1 to 5, and write that number on the line next to the
feeling:
1 Very rarely or never
2 Rarely
3 Sometimes
4 Often
5 Very often or always
_____ Positive (1)
_____ Negative (2)
_____ Good (3)
_____ Bad (4)
_____ Pleasant (5)
_____ Contented (6)
_____ Interested (7)
_____ Stressed (8)
_____ Unpleasant (9)
_____ Happy (10)
_____ Sad (11)
_____ Angry (12)
_____ Afraid (13)
_____ Loving (14)
_____ Depressed (15)
_____ Joyful (16)
A Pleasant feelings: Add up your scores on items 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10,
14, and 16 (8 items), and place your score here: __________
B Unpleasant feelings: Add up your scores on items 2, 4, 8, 9, 11,
12, 13, and 15 (8 items), and place your score here: __________
Pleasant feelings
8–13 Extremely low pleasant feelings
14–18 Very low
19–23 Low
24–27 Moderate
28–30 High
31–35 Very high
36–40 Extremely high pleasant feelings
Unpleasant feelings
8–11 Extremely low unpleasant feelings
12–16 Very low
17–20 Low
21–25 Moderate
26–28 High
29–31 Very high
32–40 Extremely high unpleasant feelings
Your happiness balance
Besides your overall pleasant and unpleasant scores, we can also
examine the relation between the two, in what we call “hedonic
balance,” or the amount of pleasant feelings you experience minus the
frequency of your unpleasant feelings.
Subtract your Unpleasant Feelings Score from your Pleasant Feelings
Score and put your “Balance” answer here: __________
Balance scores interpretation
24 to 32 Very happy
16 to 23 Happy
5 to 15 Slightly happy
4 to –3 Neutral, mixed
–4 to –12 Somewhat unhappy
–13 to –23 Very unhappy
–24 to –32 Extremely unhappy
Individual emotion items
Besides the summed scores and their balance score, you can
also examine individual items. You ought to be feeling general positive
feelings, such as “good” or “positive,” the majority of the time, unless
some bad event has just occurred in your life. If you are not feeling
positive, good, or pleasant most of the time, and only experience these
feelings rarely, you should examine why.
You should be feeling negative feelings only rarely. If you feel
stressed occasionally, but not often, you may feel that this is not too
much. But for some feelings, such as “depressed” and “angry,” feeling
these emotions only rarely or very rarely is usually most beneficial. Do
any of your individual emotions stand out? That is, which of
the positive feelings do you have less often? If you are interested and
positive most of the time, this is a very good sign. When you examine
your negative feelings, are there any that you feel substantially more
often? If you are frequently afraid, angry, sad, depressed, or stressed,
are there steps you can take to reduce these emotions, which can
interfere with your happiness and with your effective functioning?
The Causes of Emotional Well-Being
To some degree our levels of pleasant and unpleasant feelings
are due to our inborn temperaments. Some people don’t feel that
positive simply because they are “low-key” individuals. This might not
be a matter of concern as long as the amount of positive emotions you
are feeling does not bother you. But remember that there are ways of
thinking and living that can also influence our emotional lives, and that
we can probably increase our pleasant feelings if we take efforts to do
so. Low levels of pleasant feelings are of most concern when levels of
unpleasant feelings are equal to or exceed the pleasant feelings.
When a person is low in pleasant feelings and high in unpleasant
feelings, this is a true matter of concern. However, if a person scores
only in the middle on pleasant feelings, but is extremely low in
unpleasant feelings, this might mean that she or he is just not an
emotional individual, but might still be very happy. When a person
scores high on both pleasant feelings and unpleasant feelings, this
means he or she is intense-but hopefully still higher on the pleasant
feelings than the unpleasant ones.
Measuring Your Psychological Flourishing
Psychological Flourishing Scale (PFS)
Below are twelve statements with which you may agree or
disagree. Using the scale below, indicate your agreement with each
item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that
item.
7 Strongly agree
6 Agree
5 Slightly agree
4 Mixed, or neither agree nor disagree
3 Slightly disagree
2 Disagree
1 Strongly disagree
______ I lead a purposeful and meaningful life.
______ My social relationships are supportive and rewarding.
______ I am engaged and interested in my daily activities.
______ I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of
others.
______ I am competent and capable in the activities that are
important to me.
______ I am a good person and live a good life.
______ My material life (income, housing, etc.) is sufficient for my
needs.
______ I generally trust others and feel part of my community.
______ I am satisfied with my religious or spiritual life.
______ I am optimistic about the future.
______ I have no addictions, such as to alcohol, illicit drugs, or
gambling.
______ People respect me.
Add up your scores on the twelve items of the psychological flourishing
scale and place your answer here: __________
Possible scores range from 12 to 84:
80–84 Extremely high flourishing
74–79 Very high flourishing
68–73 High flourishing
60–67 Flourishing
48–59 Slight lack of flourishing
32–47 Lack of flourishing
12–31 Extremely low flourishing
In the flourishing scale, we assess aspects of psychological
wealth that go beyond positive emotions and life satisfaction to also
measure how you are doing in other essential areas of your life. This
scale measures not only that you generally feel good about your life,
but also whether key aspects of psychological wealth, such as strong
social relationships, self-respect, competence, engaging work, and
spirituality, are in place, and whether your life has purpose and
meaning. Flourishing indicates aspects of your life that psychologists
such as Carol Ryff, Corey Keyes, Ed Deci, and Richard Ryan believe are
missing from pleasure and emotional feelings of happiness. Flourishing
has also been called “Psychological Well-Being,” or “Eudaimonic Well-
Being.” Flourishing goes beyond an individual’s pursuit of her own
happiness to include her contributions to society and the happiness of
others. At times you might be flourishing despite having emotional
troubles, and at other times you might be having a fun time without
truly flourishing. It is, of course, best when the various elements of
psychological wealth all come together.
Your Happiness Profile
Although psychological wealth requires all four elements above,
a degree of it can often be experienced by those who score well in only
two or three of them. A very low positive feelings score or a very high
negative feelings score is likely to make life less rewarding even if the
person has a high degree of flourishing. Indeed, it will be difficult to be
high on flourishing or life satisfaction if you are depressed. You need
not aim for ecstasy to be happy, but achieving some success in each
type of well-being is an eminently reasonable goal.
Your profile of Psychological Wealth – True Wealth
If you examine all four of your scores above – Life Satisfaction,
Positive Emotions, low levels of Negative Emotions, and Psychological
Well-Being, you can assess your overall happiness profile, or level of
Psychological Wealth.
You probably have not made the Forbes list of billionaires, but are
you a billionaire when it comes to psychological wealth? Here is how to
interpret your score:
All Extremely High A billionaire – Psychological
Wealth Top 400 List
All Very High and Extremely High You are rich
High to Very High Upper middle class
Average or Mix of High and Low Middle class
Low and Average Working class
Low and Very Low Poor
Low to Extremely Unhappy Abject poverty
If you are high in psychological wealth, congratulations on a life
that is well-lived. If you are impoverished, or poorer than you would
like to be, now is the time to increase your wealth, and take steps to
get your life on the right track.
