Table of Contents

Instructions:

Below are five statements that you may agree or disagree with. Indicate your agreement with each item by tapping the appropriate box, from strongly agree, to strongly disagree. Please be open and honest in your responding.

	Strongly agree	Agree	Slightly agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Slightly disagree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
In most ways my life is close to my ideal.	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
The conditions of my life are excellent.	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
I am satisfied with my life.	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Description

The SWLS is a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one’s life. The scale usually requires only about one minute of a respondent’s time, where respondents answer on a . It’s questions are open to interpretation, making this scale suitable for adults with a of .

Validity and Reliability

is conceptualized as consisting of two major components: the emotional or affective component and the or cognitive component. The SWLS was designed to measure the component. Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffith (1985) have conducted a series of validation studies showing that the SWLS has a single factor, high , is reliable and is appropriate for a wide of groups. was established through high correlations with other well-being measures, including the Fordyce Scale and the Giunn Scale. Additionally, the SWLS has a low (.09) with measures of affect , showing that it is likely to be reliable over affective states.

Interpretation

Scores consist of a raw score (between 5 and 35). Higher scores represent higher life satisfaction. Scorers can be assigned into six well-being categories and interpretative text in provided for each. – 30- 35 Extremely satisfied – 25 – 29 Satisfied – 20 – 24 Slightly satisfied – 15 – 19 Slightly dissatisfied – 10 – 14 Dissatisfied – 5 – 9 Extremely dissatisfied

Developer

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale.Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75. http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~ediener/SWLS.html

Number Of Questions

References

Pavot, W. G., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., & Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 149-161.

Developer Reference: