Life satisfaction around the world: measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups
Article
Swami, V., Stieger, S., Voracek, M., Aavik, T., Abdollahpour Ranjbar, H., Adebayo, S.O., Afhami, R., Ahmed, O., Aimé, A., Akel, M., Al Halbusi, H., Alexias, G., Ali, K., Alp-Dal, N., Alsalhani, A.B., Álvarez-Solas, S., Amaral, A.C.S., Andrianto, S., Aspden, T., Argyrides, M., Aruta, J.J.B.R., Atkin, S., Ayandele, O., Baceviciene, M., Bahbouh, R., Ballesio, A., Barron, D., Bellard, A., Bender, S.S., Beydaǧ, K., Birovljević, G., Blackburn, M.-E., Borja-Alvarez, T., Borowiec, J., Bozogáňová, M., Bratland-Sanda, S., Browning, M., Brytek-Matera, A., Burakova, M., Çakır-Koçak, Y., Camacho, P., Camilleri, V.E., Cazzato, V., Cerea, S., Chaiwutikornwanich, A., Chaleeraktrakoon, T., Chambers, T., Chen, Q.-W., Chen, X., Chien, C.-L., Chobthamkit, P., Choompunuch, B., Compte, E.J., Corrigan, J., Cosmas, G., Cowden, R., Czepczor-Bernat, K., Czub, M., da Silva, W.R., Dadfar, M., Dalley, S.E., Dany, L., Datu, J.A.D., de Carvalho, P.H.B., Coelho, G.L.d.H., De Jesus, A.O.S., Debbabi, S.H., Dhakal, S., Di Bernardo, F., Dimitrova, D.D., Dion, J., Dixson, B., Donofrio, S., Drysch, M., Du, H., Dzhambov, A.M., El-Jor, C., Enea, V., Eskin, M., Farbod, F., Farrugia, L., Fian, L., Fisher, M.L., Folwarczny, M., Frederick, D.A., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Furnham, A., García, A.A., Geller, S., Ghisi, M., Ghorbani, A., Gomez Martinez, M.A., Gradidge, S., Graf, S., Grano, C., Gyene, G., Hallit, S., Hamdan, M., Handelzalts, J.E., Hanel, P., Hawks, S.R., Hekmati, I., Helmy, M., Hill, T., Hina, F., Holenweger, G., Hřebíčková, M., Ijabadeniyi, O.A., Imam, A., İnce, B., Irrazabal, N., Jankauskiene, R., Jiang, D.-Y., Jiménez-Borja, M., Jiménez-Borja, V., Johnson, E.M., Jovanović, V., Jović, M., Jović, M., Junqueira, A.C.P., Kahle, L.-M., Kantanista, A., Karakiraz, A., Karkin, A., Kasten, E., Khatib, S., Khieowan, N., Kimong, P.J., Kiropoulos, L., Knittel, J., Kohli, N., Koprivnik, M., Kospakov, A., Król-Zielińska, M., Krug, I., Kuan, G., Kueh, Y.C., Kujan, O., Kukić, M., Kumar, S., Kumar, V., Lamba, N., Lauri, M.A., Laus, M., LeBlanc, L.A., Lee, H.J., Lipowska, M., Lipowski, M., Lombardo, C., Lukács, A., Maïano, C., Malik, S., Manjary, M., Márquez Baldó, L., Martinez-Banfi, M., Massar, K., Matera, C., McAnirlin, O., Mebarak, M.R., Mechri, A., Meireles, J.F.F., Mesko, N., Mills, J., Miyairi, M., Modi, R., Modrzejewska, A., Modrzejewska, J., Mulgrew, K.E., Myers, T.A., Namatame, H., Nassani, M.Z., Nerini, A., Neto, F., Neto, J., Neves, A.N., Ng, S.-K., Nithiya, D., O, J., Obeid, S., Oda-Montecinos, C., Olapegba, P.O., Olonisakin, T.T., Omar, S.S., Örlygsdóttir, B., Özsoy, E., Otterbring, T., Pahl, S., Panasiti, M.S., Park, Y., Patwary, M.M., Pethö, T., Petrova, N., Pietschnig, J., Pourmahmoud, S., Prabhu, V.G., Poštuvan, V., Prokop, P., Ramseyer Winter, V.L., Razmus, M., Ru, T., Rupar, M., Sahlan, R.N., Salah Hassan, M., Šalov, A., Sapkota, S., Sarfo, J., Sawamiya, Y., Schaefer, K., Schulte-Mecklenbeck, M., Seekis, V., Selvi, K., Sharifi, M., Shrivastava, A., Siddique, R.F., Sigurdsson, V., Silkane, V., Šimunić, A., Singh, G., Slezáčková, A., Sundgot-Borgen, C., Ten Hoor, G., Tevichapong, P., Tipandjan, A., Todd, J., Togas, C., Tonini, F., Tovar-Castro, J.C., Trangsrud, L.K.J., Tripathi, P., Tudorel, O., Tylka, T.L., Uyzbayeva, A., Vally, Z., Vanags, E., Vega, L.D., Vicente-Arruebarrena, A., Vidal-Mollón, J., Vilar, R., Villegas, H., Vintilă, M., Wallner, C., White, M.P., Whitebridge, S., Windhager, S., Wong, K., Yau, E.K., Yamamiya, Y., Yeung, V.W.L., Zanetti, M., Zawisza, M., Zeeni, N., Zvaríková, M. and Tran, U. 2025. Life satisfaction around the world: measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. PLoS ONE. 20 (1), p. e0313107. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313107
| Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Title | Life satisfaction around the world: measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups |
| Authors | Swami, V., Stieger, S., Voracek, M., Aavik, T., Abdollahpour Ranjbar, H., Adebayo, S.O., Afhami, R., Ahmed, O., Aimé, A., Akel, M., Al Halbusi, H., Alexias, G., Ali, K., Alp-Dal, N., Alsalhani, A.B., Álvarez-Solas, S., Amaral, A.C.S., Andrianto, S., Aspden, T., Argyrides, M., Aruta, J.J.B.R., Atkin, S., Ayandele, O., Baceviciene, M., Bahbouh, R., Ballesio, A., Barron, D., Bellard, A., Bender, S.S., Beydaǧ, K., Birovljević, G., Blackburn, M.-E., Borja-Alvarez, T., Borowiec, J., Bozogáňová, M., Bratland-Sanda, S., Browning, M., Brytek-Matera, A., Burakova, M., Çakır-Koçak, Y., Camacho, P., Camilleri, V.E., Cazzato, V., Cerea, S., Chaiwutikornwanich, A., Chaleeraktrakoon, T., Chambers, T., Chen, Q.-W., Chen, X., Chien, C.-L., Chobthamkit, P., Choompunuch, B., Compte, E.J., Corrigan, J., Cosmas, G., Cowden, R., Czepczor-Bernat, K., Czub, M., da Silva, W.R., Dadfar, M., Dalley, S.E., Dany, L., Datu, J.A.D., de Carvalho, P.H.B., Coelho, G.L.d.H., De Jesus, A.O.S., Debbabi, S.H., Dhakal, S., Di Bernardo, F., Dimitrova, D.D., Dion, J., Dixson, B., Donofrio, S., Drysch, M., Du, H., Dzhambov, A.M., El-Jor, C., Enea, V., Eskin, M., Farbod, F., Farrugia, L., Fian, L., Fisher, M.L., Folwarczny, M., Frederick, D.A., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Furnham, A., García, A.A., Geller, S., Ghisi, M., Ghorbani, A., Gomez Martinez, M.A., Gradidge, S., Graf, S., Grano, C., Gyene, G., Hallit, S., Hamdan, M., Handelzalts, J.E., Hanel, P., Hawks, S.R., Hekmati, I., Helmy, M., Hill, T., Hina, F., Holenweger, G., Hřebíčková, M., Ijabadeniyi, O.A., Imam, A., İnce, B., Irrazabal, N., Jankauskiene, R., Jiang, D.-Y., Jiménez-Borja, M., Jiménez-Borja, V., Johnson, E.M., Jovanović, V., Jović, M., Jović, M., Junqueira, A.C.P., Kahle, L.-M., Kantanista, A., Karakiraz, A., Karkin, A., Kasten, E., Khatib, S., Khieowan, N., Kimong, P.J., Kiropoulos, L., Knittel, J., Kohli, N., Koprivnik, M., Kospakov, A., Król-Zielińska, M., Krug, I., Kuan, G., Kueh, Y.C., Kujan, O., Kukić, M., Kumar, S., Kumar, V., Lamba, N., Lauri, M.A., Laus, M., LeBlanc, L.A., Lee, H.J., Lipowska, M., Lipowski, M., Lombardo, C., Lukács, A., Maïano, C., Malik, S., Manjary, M., Márquez Baldó, L., Martinez-Banfi, M., Massar, K., Matera, C., McAnirlin, O., Mebarak, M.R., Mechri, A., Meireles, J.F.F., Mesko, N., Mills, J., Miyairi, M., Modi, R., Modrzejewska, A., Modrzejewska, J., Mulgrew, K.E., Myers, T.A., Namatame, H., Nassani, M.Z., Nerini, A., Neto, F., Neto, J., Neves, A.N., Ng, S.-K., Nithiya, D., O, J., Obeid, S., Oda-Montecinos, C., Olapegba, P.O., Olonisakin, T.T., Omar, S.S., Örlygsdóttir, B., Özsoy, E., Otterbring, T., Pahl, S., Panasiti, M.S., Park, Y., Patwary, M.M., Pethö, T., Petrova, N., Pietschnig, J., Pourmahmoud, S., Prabhu, V.G., Poštuvan, V., Prokop, P., Ramseyer Winter, V.L., Razmus, M., Ru, T., Rupar, M., Sahlan, R.N., Salah Hassan, M., Šalov, A., Sapkota, S., Sarfo, J., Sawamiya, Y., Schaefer, K., Schulte-Mecklenbeck, M., Seekis, V., Selvi, K., Sharifi, M., Shrivastava, A., Siddique, R.F., Sigurdsson, V., Silkane, V., Šimunić, A., Singh, G., Slezáčková, A., Sundgot-Borgen, C., Ten Hoor, G., Tevichapong, P., Tipandjan, A., Todd, J., Togas, C., Tonini, F., Tovar-Castro, J.C., Trangsrud, L.K.J., Tripathi, P., Tudorel, O., Tylka, T.L., Uyzbayeva, A., Vally, Z., Vanags, E., Vega, L.D., Vicente-Arruebarrena, A., Vidal-Mollón, J., Vilar, R., Villegas, H., Vintilă, M., Wallner, C., White, M.P., Whitebridge, S., Windhager, S., Wong, K., Yau, E.K., Yamamiya, Y., Yeung, V.W.L., Zanetti, M., Zawisza, M., Zeeni, N., Zvaríková, M. and Tran, U. |
| Abstract | The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a widely used self-report measure of subjective well-being, but studies of its measurement invariance across a large number of nations remain limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset-with data collected between 2020 and 2022 -to assess measurement invariance of the SWLS across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups (N = 56,968). All participants completed the SWLS under largely uniform conditions. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that configural and metric invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional SWLS model has universal applicability. Full scalar invariance was achieved across gender identities and age groups. Based on alignment optimisation methods, partial scalar invariance was achieved across all but three national groups and across all languages represented in the BINS. There were large differences in latent SWLS means across nations and languages, but negligible-to-small differences across gender identities and age groups. Across nations, greater life satisfaction was significantly associated with greater financial security and being in a committed relationship or married. The results of this study suggest that the SWLS largely assesses a common unidimensional construct of life satisfaction irrespective of respondent characteristics (i.e., national group, gender identities, and age group) or survey presentation (i.e., survey language). This has important implications for the assessment of life satisfaction across nations and provides information that will be useful for practitioners aiming to promote subjective well-being internationally. |
| Keywords | Humans; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Language; Personal Satisfaction; Gender Identity; Psychometrics; Age Factors; Quality of Life; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Middle Aged; Female; Male; Young Adult; Self Report; Surveys and Questionnaires |
| Sustainable Development Goals | 3 Good health and well-being |
| Middlesex University Theme | Health & Wellbeing |
| Publisher | Public Library of Science |
| Journal | PLoS ONE |
| ISSN | |
| Electronic | 1932-6203 |
| Publication dates | |
| Online | 22 Jan 2025 |
| 01 Jan 2025 | |
| Publication process dates | |
| Submitted | 04 Sep 2024 |
| Accepted | 17 Dec 2024 |
| Deposited | 03 Feb 2025 |
| Output status | Published |
| Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
| Copyright Statement | © 2025 Swami et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313107 |
| PubMed ID | 39841629 |
| PubMed Central ID | PMC11753666 |
| National Library of Medicine ID | 101285081 |
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