Satisfaction with Life Scale
SWLSA 5-item self-report instrument assessing global cognitive judgments of one's life satisfaction as a component of subjective well-being.
Ready-to-cite methods sentence
Reliability & validation
Response anchors
Strongly disagree · Disagree · Slightly disagree · Neither agree nor disagree · Slightly agree · Agree · Strongly agree
Known limitations
Measures global satisfaction judgments rather than affect or domain-specific satisfaction. Widely translated; researchers should cite validation work for the language version used.
Original citation
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_13Questions researchers ask
What does the SWLS measure?
A 5-item self-report instrument assessing global cognitive judgments of one's life satisfaction as a component of subjective well-being.
How many items does the SWLS have?
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) has 5 items.
Is the SWLS free to use?
The SWLS is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.
Is the SWLS reliable?
Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.87, test–retest reliability of 0.82. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.
Who developed the SWLS, and how do I cite it?
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
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Library entry verified January 2024. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.