Start delivering measurement based on mental health care
Conduct psychological assessments remotely, get scores automatically, and maintain clinical records securely
Create account
The SWLS is a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one's life. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was developed to assess satisfaction with the respondent’s life as a whole. The scale does not assess satisfaction with life domains such as health or finances but allows subjects to integrate and weight these domains in whatever way they choose.
You can create a free account on PsyPack to access fillable PDFs, manuals and educational resources for the SWLS
PsyPack can automatically score the SWLS assessment and prepare corresponding tables and graphs.
Subjective well-being
The purpose of the evaluation is to:
Self-administered
Positive psychology
Questionnaire
13 years and above
About 1 minute
As is true of any self-report instrument, respondents can consciously distort their response to the scale if they are motivated to do so. For this reason, it is desirable to supplement the self-reported SWLS with assessments from external sources, such as informant SWLS or interviewer ratings, whenever possible.
The focus of the first three items of the SWLS is on a person’s current life, whereas the last two items inquire about how the person has previously been, up until the present. A discrepancy within the scores of the first three items and the last two items can reveal whether people view their lives as improving or declining.
The SWLS does not measure all aspects of Subjective Well-Being (SWB). It is a narrow-band instrument, intended to assess the cognitive rather than affective component of SWB. Although the cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being are obviously related, scores on the SWLS cannot automatically be used as direct measures of emotional well-being. Instruments with an affective focus should be included in research designs that are intended to obtain data on the broader construct of global SWB.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.