Importance has been Considered in Satisfaction Evaluation: an Experimental Examination of Locke’s Range-of-affect Hypothesis

Importance weighting is a common practice in quality of life (QOL) measurement research. Based on the widespread idea that important domains should make a greater contribution to individuals’ QOL total score, the weighting procedure of multiplying item satisfaction by an item’s importance has been adopted in many QOL instruments. Locke’s [1969, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 4, 309–336; 1976, Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Rand McNally, Chicago, pp. 1297–1343] range-of-affect hypothesis indicated that a satisfaction evaluation is determined by the have-want discrepancy, importance, and the interaction of the have-want discrepancy and importance, implying that a satisfaction evaluation incorporates the judgment of importance and weighting the satisfaction score with the importance score is unnecessary. The purpose of the current study was to address the issue of importance weighting by examining Locke’s range-of-affect hypothesis in the context of QOL research. A within-subject experiment was conducted to see if, given a varying amount of discrepancy, participants would reveal whether or not satisfaction/dissatisfaction is related to the dimension of importance placed on the object. Forty undergraduate students at National Taiwan University participated in the current study. Results revealed that the association between have-want discrepancy and object satisfaction is stronger on the high important dimension than the less important dimension. Generally, the results were consistent with Locke’s range-of-affect hypothesis, revealing that a satisfaction evaluation has incorporated the judgment of item importance, suggesting that the procedure of importance weighting is unnecessary. This paper was a part of the first author’s Master’s Thesis.     

Do We Need to Weight Item Satisfaction by Item Importance? A Perspective from Locke’s Range-Of-Affect Hypothesis

Importance weighting is a common idea in quality of life (QOL) measurement. Based on the common idea that important domains should have more contributions to individuals’ QOL total score, the weighting procedure of multiplying item satisfaction by item importance was adopted in many QOL instruments. However, in Locke’s [1969, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 4, pp. 309–336; 1976, in: M.D. Dunnette (eds.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Rand McNally, Chicago), pp. 1297–1343] range-of-affect hypothesis, he indicated that the satisfaction evaluation of an item was determined by the have–want discrepancy, importance and their interaction (discrepancy × importance), implying that item satisfaction has incorporated the judgment of item importance, therefore, weighting an item satisfaction score with an item importance score is unnecessary. The purpose of this study was to examine the range-of-affect hypothesis in the context of QOL research. Three hundred and thirty two undergraduate students at National Taiwan University (NTU) participated in the study. Item satisfaction, importance and perceived have–want discrepancy were measured for 12 different life-area items. Global life satisfaction was measured as well. Regression analysis results showed that item importance and perceived have–want discrepancy have a significant interaction effect on item satisfaction, supporting Locke’s range-of-affect hypothesis. In addition, regression analysis results also showed that item importance and item satisfaction did not have a significant interaction effect on global satisfaction, suggesting that weighting item satisfaction score by item importance value does not have advantages in predicting global satisfaction. In a summary, the findings revealed that item satisfaction has incorporated the judgment of item importance, and, thus, the procedure of importance weighting on item satisfaction is unnecessary.     

Can We Weight Satisfaction Score with Importance Ranks Across Life Domains?

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of importance weighting when importance ranks were considered as the weighting values by (1) examining the range-of-affect hypothesis in the within-subject context and (2) comparing performances of weighted and unweighted satisfaction scores in predicting overall judgment of subjective well-being. Participants were 167 undergraduates at National Taiwan University. The mean age was 19.80 years (SD = 1.98). They were first asked to complete the measurements for global life satisfaction and overall QOL and then completed a QOL questionnaire for rating satisfaction, perceived have–want discrepancy on 12 life domains and ranking importance on these domains. Hierarchical linear modeling with a random-coefficients regression model was applied to examine the range-of-affect hypothesis in the within-subject context. Correlation analysis was applied to evaluate performances of weighted and unweighted satisfaction scores in predicting overall judgment of subjective well-being. Results of this study supported the range-of-affect hypothesis, showing that the relationship between item have–want discrepancy and item satisfaction is stronger for high importance items than low importance items for a given individual. Correlation analysis found that the four weighted satisfaction scores computed from the algorithms proposed by Hsieh (Social Indicators Research 61:227–240, 2003) were not superior to unweighted satisfaction score in predicting overall QOL and global life satisfaction. All these findings suggested that weighting satisfaction scores with importance ranks may not have theoretical basis and empirical contribution.     

Examining the appropriateness of importance weighting on satisfaction score from range-of-affect hypothesis: hierarchical linear modeling for within-subject data

This study examines the range-of-affect hypothesis in a within-subject context using the weighting situation faced in quality of life (QOL) measurement. Data collected in Wu and Yao’s (2006b) study were used (332 undergraduates at National Taiwan University). The mean age was 19.80 years (std = 1.98). They completed a QOL questionnaire and indicated satisfaction, importance, and perceived have–want discrepancy on 12 life domains. Hierarchical linear modeling with a random-coefficients regression model was applied. At the first level (within-individual level), the satisfaction scores for each item were regressed on the have-want discrepancy, importance, and the interaction between have-want discrepancy and importance (have-want discrepancy ×  importance) of the same item. At the second level (between-individual level), the intercept, coefficients of have-want discrepancy, importance and the interaction between have-want discrepancy and importance at the first level were regarded as varying randomly over all participants. Results of this study supported the range-of-affect hypothesis, showing that the relationship between item have-want discrepancy and item satisfaction is stronger for high importance items than low importance items for a given individual. Implications for important weighting on item satisfaction scores were discussed.     

Do We Need to Weight Satisfaction Scores with Importance Ratings in Measuring Quality of Life?

Trauer and Mackinnon (2001; Quality of life research 10, pp. 579–585) recently proposed that weighting satisfaction scores by importance ratings in measuring quality of life is undesirable and unnecessary. However, they didn’t use empirical data to support their claim. In this study, different weighting algorithms developed by Cummins (1997; Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale – Adult: Manual [Deakin, University Australia]), Raphael et al. (1996; Journal of Adolescent Health 19, pp. 366–375), Ferrans and Powers (1985; Advances in Nursing Science 8, pp. 15–24) and Frisch (1992; Comprehensive Casebook of Cognitive Therapy [Plenum Press, New York]) for measuring quality of life (QOL) were applied. Weighted scores computed from these weighting algorithms were compared with unweighted scores in predicting a global life satisfaction measure by correlation and moderated regression analyses. One hundred and thirty undergraduate students at National Taiwan University participated in the study voluntarily. They completed a 15-item questionnaire on quality of campus life developed by the authors. They also completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), a global life satisfaction measure developed by Diener et al. (1985; Journal of Personality Assessment 49, pp. 71–75). The correlation results revealed that the weighted scores computed from different algorithms didn’t have higher correlations to the SWLS than the unweighted scores. The moderated regression results also revealed that item importance did not moderate the relationship between item satisfaction and the overall life satisfaction. All these findings revealed that weighting satisfaction with importance is unnecessary. This paper was a part of the first author’s Master Thesis     

Issues in Evaluating Importance Weighting in Quality of Life Measures

For most empirical research investigating the topic of importance weighting in quality of life (QoL) measures, the prevailing approach has been to use (1) a limited choice of global QoL measures as criterion variables (often a single one) to determine the performance of importance weighting, (2) a limited option of weighting methods to develop importance weighting, and (3) a limited number of domains to construct the (formative-indicator) measures. Although limitations resulted from a limited choice of global QoL measures as criterion variables to determine the performance of importance weighting and a limited option of weighting methods to develop importance weighting have been recognized previously, little attention has been paid to the impact of non-comprehensive domains in QoL measures constructed based on the formative-indicator approach. Using empirical data, this article revealed the potential impacts of non-comprehensive domains on the evaluation of importance weighting in QoL measures. Results presented in this article showed that both of the two most popular methods of evaluating the performance of importance weighting in QoL measures, correlation and moderated regression analysis, could produce misleading results in the situation when QoL measures constructed using the formative-indicator approach did not include comprehensive domains. Issues discussed in this article are of great importance to research in the field of QoL, especially on the topic of importance weighting in QoL measures.     

Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: Evaluation of Domain Importance Weighting in Quality of Life Measurements

This paper examined major inconsistencies between claims made and the evidence presented in recent studies on evaluating the role of domain importance weighting in quality of life (QoL) measures. Three inconsistencies were discussed and they were: (1) treating the failure to support a particular importance weighting function as the evidence of uncovering no importance weighting necessary at all, (2) considering domain importance weighting and multiplicative scores synonymous, and (3) extending findings with a within-domain focus to an across-domain focus. Overlooking these inconsistencies may lead to an overgeneralization of study findings, which would likely result in premature or even erroneous conclusions. Caution must be given in interpreting study results in order to avoid overgeneralization which limits our understanding of the true role that domain importance weighting may play in QoL measures.     

Social Capital Associated with Quality of Life Mediated by Employment Experiences: Evidence from a Random Sample of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

Working-age migrants need to possess adequate social capital in order to secure a stable and satisfactory job so that they can pursue a better quality of life (QOL). The positive relationship between social capital and vocational experiences, including successful employment, has been well established. In this study we focused on testing a multi-step mediation model linking social capital with employment experiences, and further to QOL. Survey data from rural-to-urban migrants randomly selected from Wuhan, China were analyzed. Social capital, including bonding and bridging capital, was measured using the Personal Social Capital Scale; employment experiences were measured using five job-related items; and QOL was measured using the Brief Symptoms Inventory. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that job security and job satisfaction were positively and significantly associated with QOL, and social capital measures were significantly associated with higher QOL (primarily for males). Furthermore, job security and job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between social capital and QOL after controlling for covariates. Findings of this study suggest the significance of social capital, job security and satisfaction in improving migrants’ QOL, implying the importance of vocational experiences in mediating the effect from social capital to QOL. If the findings can be confirmed with longitudinal data, these factors should be considered in decision making to improve rural-to-urban migrants’ QOL in China.     

The Use of Common Area <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Sample Test in Evaluating Targeting Methodologies: An Application to the Case of Egypt

The quality of life (QOL) is a measure of social wellbeing and life satisfaction of individuals in an area. Measuring its spatial dynamics is of great significance as it can assist the policy makers and practitioners in improving the balance between urbanization and living environment. This study proposes an approach to spatially map and examine the relationships between QOL, land use/land cover (LULC) and population density in an urban environment. The city of Lahore, Pakistan was selected as the case study area. The QOL was evaluated through the data related to physical health, psychological, social relationships, environment (natural and built), economic condition and development, and access to facilities and services. The weights/relative importance of each QOL domain was determined through the analytic hierarchy process by processing the data collected from local field experts. Overall QOL was computed by applying the domain weights to the data; spatial mapping of QOL domains and overall QOL was conducted afterwards. The spatial dynamics of QOL were examined, and its interrelationships with LULC and population density were analyzed. The relationship between these three variables turned out to be spatially dynamic. The proposed approach assists the spatial mapping and analyses of QOL, LULC and population, and by examining the spatial dynamics of these variables, contributes to devising appropriate land management and QOL improvement strategies and policies in the metropolitan regions.     

Importance is Not Unimportant: The Role of Importance Weighting in QOL Measures

The effect of relative domain importance as a weighting mechanism in quality of life (QoL) measures has been a topic of debate for decades. Studies investigating the role of domain importance in QoL measures have produced mixed results. The mixed results may very well be the consequences of a limited choice of global satisfaction or QoL measures, measurements of domain satisfaction, measurements of domain importance and weighting approaches applied to date. This study investigated the effect of importance weighting without assigning any arbitrary weighting function of domain importance. A cluster analysis was first used to classify individuals into groups, based on their perceived importance of various life domains, and then the relationship between global life satisfaction measure and the composite of domain satisfaction scores between these groups was compared. Results of this study showed that the relationship between global life satisfaction and composite of satisfaction scores did not remain consistent for respondents with different importance rankings of major life domains, which suggested an important effect of domain importance in QoL measures.     

Value dimensions,cultural differences,and the prediction of perceived quality of life

This research sought to identify the dimensional structure of values, their relationship to perceived QOL, and to examine cultural differences in value systems. A sample of 200 respondents was asked to provide direct, indirect, and importance ratings of a range of values. It was found that these could be adequately represented by seven dimensions, and that comparable dimensions were obtained from all three sets of value measures. This finding was replicated by alternative analyses, and also replicates previous research, providing strong evidence for the generality of the structure. Some inconsistent differences in values were found between the three ethnic groups (European, Maori, and Polynesian) that comprised the sample, but it was concluded that there were no clear cultural differences in values. No cultural differences were found in QOL measures also. Some possible explanations of these results are discussed. Value dimensions for direct and indirect value measures were found to be useful predictors of QOL, with close, personal dimensions generally being the best predictors. Value importance dimensions were not found to be useful QOL predictors, and it is proposed that future research should focus on aspiration measures.     

Quality of Life in Cities: Setting up Criteria for Amman-Jordan

In recent years, the interest grew in research on measuring the “quality of life” (QOL) in cities. This interest comes from the success QOL measurement achieved in understanding communities’ needs, tracking changes in different aspects of life and assessing the most desired types of future development among citizens. This research highlights the importance of measuring QOL in Jordan. It examines the opportunity and applicability of carrying out QOL measurement studies in Amman, the capital city. It outlines different scopes, visions and approaches that can be used to study and measure QOL and the most suitable mechanism that can work firmly. A professional top–bottom approach was used for that. Thirty-three experts with different backgrounds were interviewed in order to determine the appropriate scopes and visions for studying QOL, define the most significant aspects affecting QOL in Amman, and define the appropriate domains to be studied. Results were analyzed, limitations were defined and the final set of representative domains was stated. Domains were ranked according to their relevance and the important -underneath- aspects were defined in the form of models, each representing a certain domain. The paper attempts by the end to set the stage for setting up criteria for measuring QOL in Amman and to open the way for future QOL research to take place in Jordan.     

Quality of Life from the Voting Booth: The Effect of Crime Rates and Income on Recent U.S. Presidential Elections

Quality of Life (QOL) is often measured with surveys of citizen’s satisfaction. In contrast, the current research uses already-existing voting data to infer citizens’ perceptions of QOL. Under this model, citizens decide how much their QOL has improved (or declined) since the last election, and then vote to reward (or punish) the incumbent party accordingly. Analysis of the popular vote for the incumbent party then allows inference on how citizens judge their QOL and how they weight the various domains. Previous research has concluded that voters reward an incumbent who improves the economic domain prior to election. I test whether voters also reward declining crime rates, and estimate how citizens weight the relative importance of each in determining QOL. I analyze the vote shares by state from U.S. presidential elections from 1972 to 1996. Results show that changes in crime rates do influence vote share, consistent with the responsibility hypothesis, but to a smaller degree than the economic domain does. The method described provides convergent evidence that citizens weight domains differentially, and can provide the weights for a national QOL index.     

Satisfied Residents in Different Types of Local Areas: Measuring What’s Most Important

In efforts to enhance subjective urban quality of life (QOL), most empirical research focuses on measuring satisfaction. However, other research suggests most residents are satisfied with where they live because they choose local areas which satisfy them on attributes important to them, within the constraints they face. Thus residents choosing very different local areas tend to have similar satisfaction levels. Rather than focusing on residential satisfaction in local areas, it may be useful to focus on residential preferences to both characterize and improve subjective urban QOL in local areas. This study compares satisfaction and preference measures in four broad types of urban environment in South East Queensland, Australia. As expected, the results showed similar levels of satisfaction across these urban environments (spanning inner city, suburban, outer suburban, and coastal areas) with regard to three broad attributes (access to services and facilities, the natural environment, and the social environment). In contrast, the importance of these attributes for residents varied between these urban environments. Thus residential preferences may characterize subjective urban QOL in different urban environments better than residential satisfaction. Moreover, residential preferences provide additional guidance for maintaining and enhancing subjective urban quality of life in local areas. This paper argues for a renewed focus on importance measures in addition to the existing focus on satisfaction measures in subjective urban QOL research.     

Should We Give Up Domain Importance Weighting in QoL Measures?

The purpose of this article is to examine the recent claims calling for abolishing domain importance weighting in quality of life (QoL) measures by considering the evidence conceptually and empirically. Based on a close review of evidence presented to date, it is suggested that using the range-of-affect hypothesis as a possible explanation of the poor performance of weighted satisfaction composite in predicting or correlating with global satisfaction or QoL measures can be beneficial to our understanding of the life satisfaction literature. However, given the conceptual focus and the empirical approach of the range-of-affect hypothesis presented in the life satisfaction context, using the range-of-affect hypothesis to argue against domain importance weighting raised more questions than answers. Calling for abolishing domain importance weighting in QoL measures, based on the evidence of range-of-affect hypothesis, is premature.     

On the Predictive Effect of Multidimensional Importance-Weighted Quality of Life Scores on Overall Subjective Well-Being

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of importance weighting in predicting outcome variables in a hierarchical and multidimensional measurement context. A total of 146 undergraduate students (female = 76; mean age = 20.25) from two universities in Taiwan and China participated in this study. They evaluated their quality of life on 22 facets from the WHOQOL-BREF scale, which covers four domains (i.e., physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health). They were also asked to rate the importance of these 22 facets and items for three general subjective well-being indices, including overall quality of life, general health, and life satisfaction. A multiplicative formula was used to create importance-weighted scores for each facet, and four domain scores were obtained by averaging facet scores under specific domains. Results of regression analysis revealed that after applying the weighting procedure, the four domain scores did not account for more variances in the three indices for overall subjective well-being, and predictive effects of the four domain scores became less differential. Our findings suggest that importance weighting did not have its expected benefits but instead may negatively impact the predictive effects.     

Counting Importance: The Case of Life Satisfaction and Relative Domain Importance

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the use of relative domain importance as a weighting mechanism at the individual level improved the correlation between the global life satisfaction and domain satisfaction measures. Results from telephone interviews with adults 50 years old or above in Chicago suggest that compared to simple average of domain satisfactions, using discrete domain importance rating as a weighting factor did not improve the correlation between global life satisfaction measure and domain satisfactions. However, the correlation was improved by using domain ranking. The findings suggest that the weighted average of domain satisfactions using domain ranking is a better indicator of global life satisfaction than the simple sum or average of domain satisfactions.     

Reliability,Population Classification and Weighting in Multidimensional Poverty Measurement: A Monte Carlo Study

Social Indicators Research - In poverty measurement, differential weighting aims to take into account the unequal importance of the diverse dimensions and aspects of poverty and to add valuable...     

Using Perceived Health to Test the Construct-related Validity of Global Quality of Life

Quality of life (QOL) is considered as aglobal, yet unidimensional, subjectiveassessment of one's satisfaction with life. Weexamine the construct validity of the availableindicators of global QOL by constructing acausal model in which QOL is viewed as causallyresponding to several dimensions of perceivedhealth. Global QOL is measured with fiveindicators derived from the literature, andperceived health is measured by eightdimensions of the SF-36 Health Survey. Thestructural equation model describes the QOL andperceived health assessments of 306 coronaryartery bypass graft (CABG) patients andprovides a stringent test of theunidimensionality of the global QOL indicators.The evidence regarding QOL is worrisome, butnot devastating. The acceptable model fit wasachieved by introducing direct effects leadingfrom the General Health Perceptions concept totwo of the five indicators of global QOL. Thissuggests that there are some mechanisms thatinfluence these indicators without firstaltering QOL, or that these indicators are notresponding in unison to QOL. Furthermore, theFaces QOL indicator required measurement errorcorrelations to two of the perceived healthindicators. This also suggests that there aremechanisms beyond pure QOL that act upon thisindicator. But the problematic effects anderror correlations are modest, so the evidenceagainst these indicators is not particularlystrong. Overall, the Self-Anchoring StrivingScale (SASS) indicator and the Life-as-a -Wholeindicator (from Multiple Discrepancies Theory)seem to be the cleanest indicators of globalQOL. General health perceptions and perceivedmental health both influenced global QOL, whilethe other six health perception concepts had noconsistent impact on global QOL.