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Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS)

Psychology: Mental Health1 sample item

About this scale

A part of subjective well-being and happyness is how satisfied people are with their life. The Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) measures this. It is a short 5-item scale. On the SWLS website , the scale is defined as follows: "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."

Sample item(s)

“Survey code includes 6 item lines. Open PsyToolkit to review wording and permissions.”

Notes

Psychology field scale. Check the PsyToolkit page and original paper for use rights before fielding.

Source & citation

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49 , 71-75. | 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. | Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5 , 164-172. | Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2008). The Satisfaction With Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3 , 137–152

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SWLS website

Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.

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