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Measuring Happiness with a Single-Item Scale
Abstract
This study examined the accuracy of measuring happiness by a single item (Do you feel happy in general?) answered on an 11-point scale (0-10). Its temporal stability was 0.86. The correlations between the single item and both the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI; Argyle, Martin, & Lu, 1995; Hills & Argyle, 1998) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; Pavot & Diener, 1993) were highly significant and positive, denoting good concurrent validity. Moreover, the single item had a good convergent validity because it was highly and positively correlated with optimism, hope, self-esteem, positive affect, extraversion, and self-ratings of both physical and mental health. Furthermore, the divergent validity of the single item has been adequately demonstrated through its significant and negative correlations with anxiety, pessimism, negative affect, and insomnia. It was concluded that measuring happiness by a single item is reliable, valid, and viable in community surveys as well as in cross-cultural comparisons.
... Higher scores indicated a higher level of individual happiness. This single-item measurement, developed by Abdel-Khalek (2006), empirically demonstrated good temporal stability of 0.86, as well as satisfactory concurrent, convergent, and divergent validities. That empirical evidence concluded that measuring happiness by a single item is reliable, valid, and viable in community surveys, as well as in cross-cultural comparisons (Abdel-Khalek, 2006). ...
... This single-item measurement, developed by Abdel-Khalek (2006), empirically demonstrated good temporal stability of 0.86, as well as satisfactory concurrent, convergent, and divergent validities. That empirical evidence concluded that measuring happiness by a single item is reliable, valid, and viable in community surveys, as well as in cross-cultural comparisons (Abdel-Khalek, 2006). Family solidarity refers to the level of connectedness within a family, operationalized as family time, atmosphere, responsibilities, and care and support (Bengtson & Roberts, 1991). ...
Numerous research studies have reported that COVID-19 adversely affects individual mental well-being, but studies on the effect of the pandemic on family well-being have been sparse. Given that happiness is an essential determinant of quality of life,
we examined the predictors of family happiness during COVID-19 in this study based on a convenience sampling of 2,971 Hong Kong residents between April 2021 and March 2022. Results showed that those between 35 and 54 years were happier than those between 19 and 34. Family happiness correlated with age, individual happiness, family solidarity, family resources, family mental health, and the COVID-19 impact. Individual happiness and family factors also consistently predicted family happiness regardless of the severity of the pandemic. Findings suggest that individual happiness and several family factors shape family happiness. Fostering supportive measures and care within families is essential to improve family happiness.
... Well-being: 'In general, how happy would you say you are?' (1 = extremely unhappy; 10 = extremely happy) (Abdel-Khalek, 2006) and 'In general, how satisfied are you with your life?' (1 = very dissatisfied; 6 = very satisfied) (Seligman, 2011) ...
Belief in a just world (BJW) is well established as a coping resource, particularly for those times when the world is experienced as uncertain, unpredictable, and uncontrollable. The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was such a time, and therefore provided an opportunity to test the boundary conditions of BJW theorizing. Here, we make a new methodological contribution, testing (a) cross-lagged panel effects of BJW on mental health and well-being variables and (b) whether these effects generalized cross-nationally. Drawing from data collected in early-mid 2020 by the PsyCorona Project (N = 2574 from 30 countries), BJW-self and BJW-other longitudinally predicted positive social/mental health, well-being, and hope, and these findings generalized across countries. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of BJW as a coping resource in a time of crisis.
... In our research, we measured happiness levels using the following question: "On a scale of 0 to 10, where zero represents very unhappy and ten represents very happy, how would you rate your overall level of happiness?" Several studies have investigated the reliability and validity of single-item happiness scales with scores of 0-10, and the results have shown them to be reliable and valid measures of happiness [23,24]. ...
Objective
While watching sports may enhance older adults’ happiness, the relationship between sports spectatorship and happiness may vary depending on on-site or TV/Internet. This study examined associations between different forms of sports spectatorship (on-site and TV/Internet) and happiness among older adults in Japan.
Methods
We used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, conducted in 2019 and 2022. The outcome variable was happiness, and the explanatory variables were watching sports on-site, watching professional sports on-site, and watching sports on TV/Internet. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the association between watching sports and happiness, after adjusting for potential confounders. A modified Poisson regression analysis was performed for the binarized outcome with a cutoff of 8 points. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on sports club participation, age, and sex.
Results
Watching sports on-site a few times annually was associated with higher happiness scores (B: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.19) and a higher prevalence of happiness (PR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.12) than not watching sports. Similar results were observed when the participants watched professional sports a few times annually (B: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.22; PR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.12). No significant associations were found between watching sports on TV/Internet and happiness. The associations were more pronounced among participants who did not participate in sports clubs, males, and those aged < 75 years.
Conclusion
Watching sports on-site, particularly a few times a year, was associated with higher happiness levels among older adults. These findings highlight the importance of developing targeted interventions that promote older adults’ access to live sports events as a public health strategy.
... Moreover, its simplicity and ease of understanding make it highly adaptable to different contexts, including community surveys and cross-cultural studies. 27 Research has shown that a single item, such as the question 'Do you feel happy in general?' on an 11-point scale, provides a reliable and valid measure of happiness; strong temporal stability was demonstrated with a coefficient of 0.86, indicating a consistent ability to measure happiness over time. 28 ...
Background
Adolescence marks a critical transition period, with significant mental health challenges including anxiety and depression symptoms that affect long-term happiness. There has been a lack of research exploring the factors mediating adolescent happiness.
Aims
To investigate the mediating effects of anxiety and depression on adolescent happiness, as well as the contributions of sociodemographic factors.
Methods
We recruited 392 adolescents. Anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms and happiness were assessed by the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire and single-item happiness scale, respectively. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect sociodemographic information.
Results
Spearman correlation analysis showed significant negative correlations of happiness with anxiety ( r = −0.37, P < 0.0001) and depression ( r = −0.47, P < 0.0001). Positive predictors of happiness included quality of parents’ marriage ( β = 0.12, P = 0.006), regular physical exercise ( β = 0.13, P = 0.006) and regular diet ( β = 0.10, P = 0.03). Mediation analysis indicated that depressive symptoms (estimate = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.80) and anxiety symptoms (estimate = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.57) partially mediated the relationship between regular exercise and happiness, whereas depressive symptoms completely mediated the relationship between anxiety symptoms and happiness (estimate = −0.14, 95% CI: −0.20 to −0.08).
Conclusion
The findings of this study highlight the intricate interplay of mental health issues, lifestyle factors and adolescent happiness and emphasise the need for comprehensive interventions focusing on enhancing physical activity and addressing psychological health to foster happiness among adolescents.
... Another limitation arising from the secondary analysis approach we used concerns the measure of happiness we could use, which consisted of a single item asking participants to report their level of happiness on a 0-10 scale. This item was taken from the European Social Survey and is frequently used in international research (e.g., Kim & Jung, 2021;Piper, 2015;Zorlu & Frijters, 2019), as numerous studies that have demonstrated the concurrent validity of this item and longer, more complex scales (see, for instance, Abdel-Khalek, 2006;Negri et al., 2022). However, it does not allow for a complex operationalization of happiness. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the stress of individuals, couples and families in terms of health, sexual functioning, job loss, and lost wages. However, less is known about how it has affected gender inequality in housework and its consequences in terms of psychological well-being. In this article, we aimed to deepen knowledge on this topic by conducting a secondary analysis of data collected as part of the ResPOnsE COVID-19 project. To do so, we analyzed the responses of a quota sample of the Italian population (N = 2,013), surveyed online between April and July 2020 using a rolling-cross section approach, to examine the relationships between gender, psychological gender essentialism, perceived increase in housework, and happiness in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A preliminary unconditional model showed that happiness did not vary depending on the day of data collection. A moderated-mediated structural equation model using participants’ age, education, geopolitical area of residence, being vs. not being in a partnership, and having vs. not having sons and daughters as control variables showed that being a woman was positively associated with perceived increase in housework only among women with low levels of gender essentialism. Moreover, perceived increase in housework hours showed a positive association with happiness. The strengths, limitations, and future developments of this study are discussed.
The benefits to one's well-being due to nature contact have been addressed in various disciplines. The well-being benefits of enjoyment of nature elicited by exposure to natural environments, however, has received little research attention. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between nature contact and subjective well-being using a hedonic approach. Moreover, environmental factors are taken into account, as opportunities for nature contact often depend on weather conditions and outdoor air quality. Survey data with a representative sample and environmental data are incorporated to understand their relationships with subjective well-being, which is measured by general happiness and life satisfaction. A two-stage estimation approach is employed. The results indicate that enjoyment of nature contact is found to be positively associated with happiness and life satisfaction. On the other hand, physical contact with nature is not associated with subjective well-being, but is found to play an endogenous role with a negative effect in the relationship between enjoyment of nature and subjective well-being. It may be concluded that perceptual contact with nature serves as a more important stimulus of subjective well-being than physical contact with nature.
Objective
This study aimed to examine the bidirectional associations between indicators of adiposity and mental health.
Methods
Using longitudinal data from 60,319 UK Biobank participants, we explored the bidirectional associations between mental health (including neuroticism, recent depressive symptoms, probable depression status, stress, mania, life satisfaction, and happiness) and adiposity indicators (including BMI, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and different obesity types).
Results
The multivariate logistic regressions and mixed‐effects models revealed the following: 1) BMI and general obesity were bidirectionally associated with recent depressive symptoms, having probable depression status, experiencing at least one type of stress (especially stress from serious illness, injury, or assault to oneself or financial difficulties), and life satisfaction (especially health satisfaction and financial situation satisfaction); 2) waist circumference and abdominal obesity were bidirectionally associated with recent depressive symptoms and financial situation satisfaction; and 3) body fat percentage and high body fat percentage were bidirectionally associated with recent depressive symptoms, experiencing stress from financial difficulties, health satisfaction, and financial situation satisfaction.
Conclusions
The bidirectional associations between specific indicators of adiposity and mental health depend on the types of adiposity.
Objective
This study aimed to examine the relationship between care networks and perceived happiness in older immigrants who live in their own homes in Australia.
Methods
A cross‐sectional survey was conducted with 101 participants aged 65–97 years and from seven cultural groups. Participants completed measures of perceived happiness, care network structure, function and adequacy, and demographics. Data were analysed using correlations, analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses.
Results
Family support, giving and receiving emotional and instrumental support and satisfaction with care networks and physical health were significantly correlated with perceived happiness. Regression analyses identified satisfaction with care networks, satisfaction with physical health and receiving instrumental support as significant predictors of happiness, explaining 41% of the variance in happiness.
Conclusions
The findings emphasised the importance of instrumental support from family and formal community aged care services, and satisfaction with care networks to perceived happiness in older immigrants. The study suggested improving communication between older immigrants, their family and service providers to effectively support older immigrants to age well in Australia.
The role of digital technology in the lives of older adults is becoming increasingly critical. Guided by the displacement theory, this study examines the characteristics of older Internet users, the relationship between Internet use and common activities, and the relationship between Internet use and happiness among Chinese older adults. Using the 2018 and 2021 Chinese General Social Survey data, the study found that Internet use was generally associated with active and increased engagement in most activities, except for watching traditional mediums (TV/DVDs). Meanwhile, the connection between Internet use and perceived happiness was not established, as only the unadjusted models in 2018 showed a significant positive association between daily Internet use and older adults' perceived happiness. This study underscores the potential of digital technology to support active aging and calls for holistic digital integration strategies. The findings have significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders in creating an age-friendly digital environment in today's evolving digital era in China and beyond.
One of the ideological foundations of the modern welfare states is the belief that people can be made happier by providing them with better living conditions. This belief is challenged by the theory that happiness is a fixed 'trait', rather than a variable 'state'. This theory figures both at the individual level and at the societal level. The individual level variant depicts happiness as an aspect of personal character; rooted in inborn temperament or acquired disposition. The societal variant sees happiness as a matter of national character; embedded in shared values and beliefs. Both variants imply that a better society makes no happier people. Happiness can be regarded as a trait if it meets three criteria: (1) temporal stability, (2) cross-situational consistency, and (3) inner causation. This paper checks whether that is, indeed, the case. The theory that happiness is a personal-character-trait is tested in a (meta) analysis of longitudinal studies. The results are: (1) Happiness is quite stable on the short term, but not in the long run, neither relatively nor absoloutely. (2) Happiness is not insensitive to fortune or adversity. (3) Happiness is not entirely built-in: its genetic basis is at best modest and psychological factors explain only part of its variance. The theory that happiness is a national-character-trait is tested in an analysis of differences in average happiness between nations. The results point in the same direction: (1) Though generally fairly stable over the last decades, nation-happiness has changed profoundly in some cases, both absolutely and relatively. (2) Average happiness in nations is clearly not independant of living conditions. The better the conditions in a country, the happier its citizens. (3) The differences cannot be explained by a collective outlook on life. It is concluded that happiness is no immutable trait. There is thus still sense in striving for greater happiness for a greater number.
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. Normative data are presented for the scale, which shows good convergent validity with other scales and with other types of assessments of subjective well-being. Life satisfaction as assessed by the SWLS shows a degree of temporal stability (e.g., 54 for 4 years), yet the SWLS has shown sufficient sensitivity to be potentially valuable to detect change in life satisfaction during the course of clinical intervention. Further, the scale shows discriminant validity from emotional well-being measures. The SWLS is recommended as a complement to scales that focus on psychopathology or emotional well-being because it assesses an individuals’ conscious evaluative judgment of his or her life by using the person’s own criteria.
Predictions about level and dispersion of happiness in nations are derived from three theories of happiness: comparison-theory, folklore-theory and livability-theory. The predictions are tested on two cross national data-sets: a comparative survey among university students in 38 nations in 1985 and a collection of comparable general population surveys in 28 nations around 1980. Most predictions of comparison-theory and folklore-theory are defied by the data. The predictions of livability-theory are all confirmed.
The original Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-O) consists of 21 item groups. Each group contains four options (i. e., 84 overall statements). The proposed short BDI version contains only 21 statements denoting the highest degree of clinical depression, i. e., the last alternative in each item group. Items of the short version were introduced in two response forms: Likert (L) and Yes/No (Y/N) format. Two depression subscales derived from the Symptom Check List-90 and the Hopkins Symptom Check List were also used. A sample of 203 male and female volunteer Kuwaiti undergraduates was recruited. It was found that the BDI-O had relatively lesser skew and kurtosis. However, the M/SD ratio was well balanced in the BDI-L and not in the original and BDI-Y/N versions. Cronbach's α, correlations with four other scales, and loadings onto two separate factors of depression were high in both BDI-O and BDI-L - although they were higher in the BDI-L. It also had improved factorial structure. Nevertheless, the proposed short BDI-L version contains only one-fourth of the BDI-O without deleting any of its symptom indicators. Therefore, it was concluded that the short BDI-L version can make a good contribution to enhancing the BDI cost-effectiveness, especially in empirical research projects containing loaded test batteries.
Defining hope as a cognitive set that is composed of a reciprocally derived sense of successful (1) agency (goal-directed determination) and (2) pathways (planning of ways to meet goals), an individual-differences measure is developed. Studies with college students and patients demonstrate acceptable internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and the factor structure identifies the agency and pathways components of the Hope Scale. Convergent and discriminant validity are documented, along with evidence suggesting that Hope Scale scores augmented the prediction of goal-related activities and coping strategies beyond other self-report measures. Construct validational support is provided in regard to predicted goal-setting behaviors; moreover, the hypothesized goal appraisal processes that accompany the various levels of hope are corroborated.
A flood of new studies explores people's subjective well-being (SWB) Frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect, and a global sense of satisfaction with life define high SWB These studies reveal that happiness and life satisfaction are similarly available to the young and the old, women and men, blacks and whites, the rich and the working-class Better clues to well-being come from knowing about a person's traits, close relationships, work experiences, culture, and religiosity We present the elements of an appraisal-based theory of happiness that recognizes the importance of adaptation, cultural world-view, and personal goals