Abstract
Life satisfaction is referred to a cognitive, judgmental process (Diener et al. in J Pers Assess 49:71–75, 1985), in which person’s quality of life is globally assessed according to his/her chosen criteria (Shin and Johnson in Soc Indic
res 5:475–492, 1978). Thus, life satisfaction is a conscious cognitive judgment, based on the comparison of one’s life with a self-imposed standard
or set of standards, which lead to a global assessment of life (Pavot and Diener in Psychol Assess 5:164–172, 1993). Among the many scales developed to measure life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS, Diener et al. in
J Pers Assess 49:71–75, 1985) is one of the global life satisfaction scales more often used in the research arena. It is composed of five items assessing
global life satisfaction, using a Likert type response format. The aim of this paper is to validate the Portuguese version
of the SWLS via confirmatory factor analysis, with a sample of 1,003 elderly from Angola. Reliability, factorial and criterial
validity estimates are presented. Overall, the results shown that the scale had an adequate one-factor confirmatory solution,
satisfying reliability indices, and adequate criterion-related validity when assessed in a sample of Angolan elderly. The
discussion relates the results with existing literature and posits the contributions of the paper: firstly, it offers the
researchers on life satisfaction in Portuguese-speaking contexts a brief, self-rated measure of satisfaction with life that
has sound psychometric properties, validity, and reliability; secondly, it is the first confirmatory validation of the scale
in Portuguese.
res 5:475–492, 1978). Thus, life satisfaction is a conscious cognitive judgment, based on the comparison of one’s life with a self-imposed standard
or set of standards, which lead to a global assessment of life (Pavot and Diener in Psychol Assess 5:164–172, 1993). Among the many scales developed to measure life satisfaction, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS, Diener et al. in
J Pers Assess 49:71–75, 1985) is one of the global life satisfaction scales more often used in the research arena. It is composed of five items assessing
global life satisfaction, using a Likert type response format. The aim of this paper is to validate the Portuguese version
of the SWLS via confirmatory factor analysis, with a sample of 1,003 elderly from Angola. Reliability, factorial and criterial
validity estimates are presented. Overall, the results shown that the scale had an adequate one-factor confirmatory solution,
satisfying reliability indices, and adequate criterion-related validity when assessed in a sample of Angolan elderly. The
discussion relates the results with existing literature and posits the contributions of the paper: firstly, it offers the
researchers on life satisfaction in Portuguese-speaking contexts a brief, self-rated measure of satisfaction with life that
has sound psychometric properties, validity, and reliability; secondly, it is the first confirmatory validation of the scale
in Portuguese.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-10
- DOI 10.1007/s11205-012-9994-y
- Authors
- Patricia Sancho, Department of Methodology for the Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain
- Laura Galiana, Department of Methodology for the Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain
- Melchor Gutierrez, Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Elizabeth-Hama Francisco, Department of Educational Sciences, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Educação, Luanda, Angola
- José M. Tomás, Department of Methodology for the Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain
- Journal Social Indicators Research
- Online ISSN 1573-0921
- Print ISSN 0303-8300