The Satisfaction With Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction

TLDR

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), introduced in 1985, has become a widely used measure of life satisfaction in subjective well‑being research, including health psychology, and its theoretical foundations have been clarified in recent reviews. In this review, we examine the evolving views of life satisfaction, offer updated psychometric data for the SWLS, and discuss future issues in the assessment of life satisfaction. The authors conduct a systematic review of the literature, update psychometric evidence for the SWLS, and outline methodological considerations for future assessment. Scores on the SWLS have been shown to correlate with measures of mental health and to be predictive of future behaviors such as suicide attempts.

Abstract

Since its introduction in 1985, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985 Larsen, RJ, Diener, E and Emmons, RA. 1985. An evaluation of subjective well-being measures. Social Indicators Research, 17: 1–18. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) has been heavily used as a measure of the life satisfaction component of subjective well-being. Scores on the SWLS have been shown to correlate with measures of mental health and to be predictive of future behaviors such as suicide attempts. In the area of health psychology, the SWLS has been used to examine the subjective quality of life of people experiencing serious health concerns. At a theoretical level, extensive research conducted since the last review (Pavot & Diener, 1993 Pavot, W and Diener, E. 1993. Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5: 164–172. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) has more clearly articulated the nature of life satisfaction judgments, and the multiple forces that can exert an influence on such judgments. In this review, we examine the evolving views of life satisfaction, offer updated psychometric data for the SWLS, and discuss future issues in the assessment of life satisfaction.