The Satisfaction with Life Scale
Author: Ed Diener, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Concept: The Satisfaction with Life Scale was developed to assess satisfaction with people's lives as a whole. The scale does not assess satisfaction with life domains such as health or finances, but allows subjects to integrate and weigh these domains in whatever way they choose. It is a short measure and the scale's validity has been tested in many settings and countries and found to be high.
Materials: Enough copies of the Satisfaction with Life Scale for each student. To score it, students should simply add the responses to each item to get a total score. A score of 20 represents a neutral level of satisfaction where one is equally satisfied and dissatisfied with life.
Description: Hand out copies of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Give students a few minutes to fill it out.
Discussion: Satisfaction is distinct from well-being in both degree and time. Satisfaction focuses more on a person's feelings about a given goal pursuit at a given time while well-being relates to a person's feelings about many different goal pursuits across time. Students scores on the Satisfaction with Life Scale may be different depending on what they have experienced recently. Their well-being may be high, but their levels of satisfaction may fluctuate if they have experienced a blockage of goals - getting lower grades than expected, not getting into the college of their choice, or not making a team they tried out for.
Reference: Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larson, R.J., & Griffin, S. (1985) The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.