Research on Assessment of Life Satisfaction of Children and Adolescents

Over the years, various psychologists haveissued calls for greater attention to a scienceof positive psychology, which focuses onstudying conditions that promote optimal humanand societal development. Recent calls (e.g.,McCullough and Snyder, 2000; Seligman andCsikszentmihalyi, 2000) have furthered interestin studies of the nature and determinants ofthe good life. Such a science, along with thecreation of prevention and interventionprograms informed by the expanded scientificframework, is expected to improve the qualityof life for all individuals, not justindividuals who are at risk or who alreadydemonstrate psychopathological conditions. Tocontrast with the previous emphasis onpsychopathology, the development of a positivepsychology requires constructs and measuresthat reflect the full range of humanfunctioning, incorporating indicators of highlevels of wellness as well aspsychopathological functioning. This articlediscusses one such construct, lifesatisfaction, that has been studied extensivelyin adulthood (see Diener et al., 1999), butwhich has only recently gained attention withchildren and adolescents (see Bender, 1997;Huebner, 1997). This article reviews lifesatisfaction assessment research with childrenand adolescents, specifically with regard toconstruct validity. In doing so, the followingareas are addressed: models of lifesatisfaction; convergent validity; discriminantvalidity; relationships with other well-beingmeasures; relationships with external,environmental circumstances; relationships withdemographic variables; cultural factors; groupdifferences on life satisfaction measures;predictive relationships; and stability of lifesatisfaction reports. Conclusions regardingthe validity of the life satisfaction constructare formulated. Recommendations for futureresearch are also discussed.     

An Introduction to the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale

QOL researchers have primarily focusedtheir attention on adults. The purpose of thispresentation is to describe the rationale,development, and psychometric properties of amultidimensional life satisfaction scaleappropriate for children and youth, theMultidimensional Students' Life SatisfactionScale (MSLSS: Huebner, 1994; Huebner et al.,1998). This multidimensional self-report scalewas designed for use with students from thirdthrough the twelfth grades. The currentversion of the MSLSS includes 40 items intendedto assess satisfaction with five specificdomains (School, Self, Family, Friends, andLiving Environment). The presentation willsummarize a series of recent studies assessingits reliability, factor structure, andconvergent and discriminant validity. Additionally, the potential usefulness ofchildren's life satisfaction scales forresearch and clinical applications werediscussed.     

An Analysis of the Levels of Job Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction of the Academic Staff

Job satisfaction is generally related with life satisfaction and can directly affect social, physical and mental health of individuals. This study was investigated to determine whether the levels of job satisfaction and life satisfaction of academicians have significantly differentiated under demographic variables and to enlighten the correlation among them. The samples of the study involve 186 academic personnel who work in the Faculty of Science and Art (122) and in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (64) in Eskisehir Osmangazi University. While analysing the data, t test, analysis of variance and regression analysis were used for SPSS 10.0. There was significant difference between job and life satisfaction levels of the academicians depending on the variables like the faculties that academic personnel working at, their titles, educational backgrounds, marital statuses, periods of duty, ages and genders. The results and their implications have been discussed.     

How Disadvantages Shape Life Satisfaction: An Alternative Methodological Approach

Social Indicators Research - Life satisfaction is one of the key indicators of subjective well-being. This paper aims to give a methodological contribution to the study of the factors influencing...     

Culture as a Moderator of Overall Life Satisfaction – Life Facet Satisfaction Relationships

The purposes of this study were to (a) provide additional competitive tests between three models of relationships between overall and life facet satisfaction [Bottom-Up (BU), Top-Down (TD), and Bidirectional (BD) models], and (b) explore whether culture moderates these relationships. Models were tested using data collected as part of Michalos' (1991) global study of student well-being from samples of college students in 32 different countries. The BD model received strongest support in 29 of the 32 samples (countries); the TD model was most strongly supported in the remaining 3 samples. Cluster analyses of samples in which the BD model was supported indicated a 7-cluster solution of reasonably homogeneous sets of OLS-LFS relationships. However, clusters were not easily interpretable in terms of evident cultural commonalities. We conclude that (a) a BD model describes OLS-LFS relationships globally, (b) and although culture appears to moderate OLS-LFS relationships, (c) additional research is needed to explain why.     

城市老年人生活满意度及其影响因素研究——以厦门市为个案

基于2007年下半年对厦门市城区老年人生活状况的调查数据分析城市老年人生活满意度及其影响因素。调查表明,与全国其他城市一样,厦门市城区老年人的生活满意度处于较高水平,88．3％的老年人对生活感到满意：二元logistic回归的conditional forward分析显示影响厦门市城区老年人生活满意度的因素．从高到低依次为经济够用程度、子女孝顺程度、日常生活方便程度、婚姻状况、心理状况,logistic回归模型的拟合优度为34．2％。     

Quality of Life in Italian Official Surveys

Quality-of-life studies have a 50-year history and inherited the tradition of the “social indicators” movement, born in the United States during the sixties and involving scholars and researchers, supported by the public administration and interested in gathering and analysing data aimed at studying non-economic components of societal wellbeing. The idea of quantifying “symptoms” (indicators) of living conditions has been launched by Italian statistician and criminologist, Alfredo Niceforo, who has been recognised as the pioneer of social-indicators concept. Moreover, with his book on Les indices numérique de la civilisation et du progrès, he may be considered the originator of an approach of comprehensive welfare and quality of life measurement as it is the concern of modern social indicators and quality of life.     

Geography of European Life Satisfaction

The vast majority of studies analyze life satisfaction at individual and/or country level. This study contributes with analysis of life satisfaction at the (sub-national) province level across multiple countries. The purpose of this study is to call attention to spatial aspects of life satisfaction. Literature does not discuss the fact that life satisfaction in one province may be related to life satisfaction in other provinces. This study shows that there are well-defined happiness clusters in Europe, but also some outliers.     

Temporal Aspects of Life Satisfaction

Time pressure is a familiar phenomenon. The quantity of spare time people have clearly effects their satisfaction with their leisure and with their life as a whole. But so too, we show, does how much control people have over how much spare time they have. We measure this through an indicator of ‘discretionary time’, which proves to be equally or more important than spare time itself in these connections.     

Predictors of Life Satisfaction among Urban Iranian Women: An Exploratory Analysis

This paper explores life satisfaction among married and unmarried Iranian women in urban areas. Data is analyzed from a sample of 335 women of which 61% are married and 39% are unmarried (i.e., single, divorced, or widows). Data is collected through the use of self-reported questionnaires administered during 1992 and 1994. A series of path analysis and cross tabulations suggest that for married women life satisfaction is directly linked to their satisfaction with marriage, employment, and their leisure experiences. There is an inverse relationship between satisfaction and the women's activity, however. For unmarried women, satisfaction is affected by their leisure experiences and educational level. The study suggests that any effort to reduce or increase the educational, employment, or leisure activities of women will directly affect women's general satisfaction and therefore affect Iranian society as a whole.     

The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Life Satisfaction

The stratification system in India has resulted in the socioeconomic inequality in society and defines women domestic workers as one of the lowest segments of society. This qualitative and quantitative study aims at describing the problems of female domestic workers, the relationship of their employers with them, and exploring the impact of socioeconomic status mainly, occupation, education, and income on life satisfaction. We used ethnographic observation and in-depth interview over a 4 year period in Mysore (a city in the south of India). Furthermore, our quantitative research was guided by convenience sampling technique with selecting 125 (65 domestic workers, 60 employers). We prepared a structured questionnaire for gathering demographic information, i.e. age, education, marital status, occupation, and religion. To measure the degree of life satisfaction, we administered Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al. J Person Assess 49(1):71–75, 1985). The data were collected during September and October 2011. The hypotheses were tested by applying Pearson correlation, regression, and t test (SPSS, version 18). The results of our observation and interview indicate that domestic workers suffer from various problems inside and outside their homes. The relationship between domestic workers and employers is a master–servant relationship. Domestic workers remain as an unorganized job group though in 2004 the Karnataka Minimum Wage Act was passed. Our quantitative findings reveal that there is a positive correlation between socioeconomic status and life satisfaction. This type of study displays that enacting law is not sufficient; it necessitates implementing and monitoring properly. This study suggests measures for supporting female domestic workers.     

Development of the Contentment with Life Assessment Scale (CLAS): Using Daily Life Experiences to Verify Levels of Self-Reported Life Satisfaction

On average, Anglo-Americans report that they are satisfied with their lives, but their global evaluations tend to deviate from their daily experiences (e.g., Oishi [2002, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28(10), 1398–1406]). We explored the hypothesis that the average life satisfaction of Anglo-Americans is better characterized as neutral than satisfied. In Study 1 we developed the five-item Contentment with Life Assessment Scale (CLAS), which focuses on contentment, fulfillment and self-discrepancies. Normative data based on three general population samples demonstrated that the CLAS produces a close to normal distribution of scores, has excellent reliability, and is sensitive to differences in life conditions (e.g., income, marital status). In two daily diary studies we tested whether global life satisfaction measures corresponded to people’s daily subjective well-being. The CLAS was the best predictor among three self-report life satisfaction measures of daily escapist behaviors including television watching and alcohol consumption, and daily stress-related physical symptoms (Study 2). In Study 3, participants recorded their level of life satisfaction daily for two weeks. Average daily life satisfaction scores clustered close to the neutral rather than satisfied point of the measurement scale.     

On the Sunny Side of Life: Sunshine Effects on Life Satisfaction

This paper seeks to analyze the influence of the weather on a person’s self-reported life satisfaction. On a theoretical level, it is claimed that ‘nice’ weather can improve the affective well-being of a person. Given this, it is argued that affects can, in turn, have an impact on that person’s general assessment of his or her life. In particular, it is expected that people would report a higher life satisfaction on days with unambiguously ‘nice’ weather. Data from three German large-scale surveys are used to test empirically to what extent self-reported life satisfaction is determined by the weather. All in all, the results are mostly consistent with the initial hypothesis. In all three samples those respondents surveyed on days with exceptionally sunny weather reported a higher life satisfaction compared to respondents interviewed on days with ‘ordinary’ weather. In two out of three samples, this difference was statistically significant. Hence, the supposed sunshine effect on peoples’ life satisfaction does indeed exist. Implications of these findings are discussed in a conclusion.     

Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Life Satisfaction in China: An Empirical Analysis

Focusing on the Chinese context, the present study took a pioneering step to examine the relationship between career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) and life satisfaction. Employing a three-dimensional CDSE model, which includes goal planning self-efficacy (GPSE), information gathering self-efficacy (IGSE) and problem solving self-efficacy (PSSE), we also explored the mediation mechanism underlying this relationship from the internal functioning process of CDSE (i.e., the GPSE–PSSE–life satisfaction and IGSE–PSSE–life satisfaction relationships). We then investigated the moderating role of person–environment (P–E) fit in the mediated CDSE–life satisfaction relationship. Data were collected from 786 university students. Results showed that all three dimensions of CDSE were positively related to life satisfaction. The internal process view was supported, for PSSE was found to mediate the relationships of life satisfaction with GPSE and IGSE, respectively. Additionally, P–E fit moderated the relationship between PSSE and life satisfaction. Further examinations also found a significant moderating role of P–E fit in the indirect relationships of life satisfaction with GPSE and IGSE via PSSE.     

An Investigation Of A Brief Life Satisfaction Scale With Elementary School Children

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Brief Multidmensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS: Seligson et al., 2003) with elementary school children. The participants included 518 elementary school students in grades three through five in a Southeastern US state. The students completed the following measures: the BMSLSS, the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS: Huebner, 1991a), the Children’s Social Desirability Questionnaire (CSDQ: Crandall et al., 1965), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Children’s Version (PANAS-C: Laurent et al., 1999). The results revealed acceptable internal consistency reliability, construct validity and concurrent validity for the BMSLSS. Overall, the use of the BMSLSS for research purposes was supported on a preliminary basis for this age group for research purposes. The study also investigated the usefulness of weighted importance ratings in the prediction of global life satisfaction judgments. Children’s ratings of the importance of the specific domains, whether viewed separately or combined with ratings of levels of life satisfaction, did not enhance the prediction of global life satisfaction. The usefulness of such a brief measure for the assessment of positive indicators of well-being in large-scale national and international studies is highlighted. Recommendations for future research are delineated.     

Inducing Score Reliability from Previous Reports: An Examination of Life Satisfaction Studies

The sample specific nature of reliability is often overlooked in substantive research, with investigators frequently referencing reliability estimates from previous studies as the basis for presuming the score integrity for their data. The purpose of the current study was to examine this practice, known as reliability induction, across studies using a popular life satisfaction (LS) measure, the Satisfaction with Life Scale. A comprehensive literature search was conducted, yielding a final sample of 196 studies using the instrument. Fifty-two studies involving 76 samples induced reliability coefficients from other sources. These studies were coded in terms of sample characteristics and variability estimates to derive comparisons in these two areas between the induced reports and the original studies. Results suggest that none of the studies inducing reliability had sufficient justification for induction. It was also found that estimating reliability coefficients for the data in hand has increased relative to induced reports and studies omitting reliability information. Practical implications for substantive researchers are discussed and suggestions for additional research are provided.     

An Analysis of Specific Life Satisfaction Domains and Disordered Eating among College Students

Research has revealed that overall life satisfaction (LS) is negatively related to disordered eating. This study examined whether specific LS domains (e.g., family, friends, etc.) were more strongly associated with eating behaviors/weight perceptions (e.g., exercising to lose weight, using laxatives to lose weight, etc.) in 723 randomly selected college students analyzed separately by gender. Data were analyzed using logistic and multiple regression procedures. Results supported the hypotheses in the expected directions. College students’ weight perceptions had the strongest relationships with Satisfaction with Self and Satisfaction with Physical Appearance, and these relationships were stronger among females than males. Worrying about weight, self-described weight, and binge eating were significantly correlated with all LS domains (p < .05). Results suggest potential contributions of differentiating among the domains of LS in efforts to understand disordered eating among males and female college students. Implications for practice are discussed briefly.     

亲情感对老年人生活满意度的影响

在现实生活中 ,亲情感对老年人的生活满意度有重要影响。家庭居住形式、老年人与亲人互动的精神生活中所体现的亲情感影响着老年人晚年生活的满意度。社会经济文化变迁对老年人亲情满足感会产生一些不利影响 ,社区服务、劳务储蓄等都可以使老年人感到心理充实、增加生活满意度     

The Influence of Materialistic Inclination on Values,Life Satisfaction and Aspirations: An Empirical Analysis

This article attempts to measure the effect ofmaterialistic inclination on the degree of lifesatisfaction. The study is based on a sample of about1600 respondents randomly selected from differentparts of the city state of Singapore. Theserespondents were divided into two distinct groups withhigh or low materialistic inclination. It wasobserved that when these respondents were asked torate the importance of the nine items from Kahle'sList of Values, the ratings of seven of these itemswere found to be significantly different between thetwo groups. The two groups also indicated differentchoices when asked to rate the things they wanted mostout of life. Finally, it was revealed that they alsoreported different degrees of satisfaction withvarious domains in life in general. However, as withregard to satisfaction with life in Singapore inparticular, there were no significant differencesobserved between the two groups.     

An Outcomes-Based Assessment of Quality of Life in Social Services

The goal of this article consists of describing the calibration of an instrument to assess quality of life-related personal outcomes using Rasch analysis. The sample was composed of 3.029 recipients of social services from Catalonia (Spain) and was selected using a probabilistic polietapic sample design. Results related to unidimensionality, item and person separation reliability, calibration, items’ level of difficulty, response categories and differential item functioning by gender and type of collective are provided and point out the general fit of the data to the model. However, it is recommended to include more difficult items and eliminate one that seems not to be adequate.