Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS)

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a very brief five-item self-assessment questionnaire designed to measure global life satisfaction, which is understood as a cognitive component of subjective well-being. The respondent expresses a level of agreement with five brief statements about his or her own life.

Length of completion

The entire questionnaire takes approximately 1 minute to complete.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

The respondent will be given information about their level of overall life satisfaction.

Keywords

Satisfaction With Life Scale, SWLS, life satisfaction, subjective well-being, global satisfaction

Scoring and interpretation

The total score is obtained by summing the scores of the individual items. It ranges from 5-35 and higher scores indicate higher levels of overall satisfaction with life.

Response Scale

Subjects respond on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” (1) to “Strongly Agree” (7).

References

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13

Hanzlová, R. (2022). An Item Response Theory Analysis and Psychometric Properties of the Czech Version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Survey Research Methods, 16(3), 371–385. https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2022.v16i3.7940

Lewis, C. A., Shevlin, M. E., Smékal, V., & Dorahy, M. J. (1999). Factor structure and reliability of a Czech translation of the Satisfaction With Life Scale among Czech university students. Studia Psychologica, 41(3), 239–244. dostupné zde

Navrátil, M., & Lewis, C. A. (2006). Temporal Stability of the Czech Translation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Test-Retest Data over One Week. Psychological Reports, 98(3), 918–920. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.98.3.918-920

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(1), 149–161. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_17

Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5(2), 164–172. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.5.2.164