A cross-national analysis of measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale

• Published in: Psychological assessment Vol. 28; no. 2; p. 239
• Main Authors: Whisman, Mark A, Judd, Charles M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2016
• Subjects: Aged; England; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Humans; Japan; Male; Middle Aged; Personal Satisfaction; Psychometrics; Quality of Life; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States; England; United States; Japan
• ISSN: 1939-134X
• DOI: 10.1037/pas0000181

Measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was examined in probability samples of adults 50-79 years of age living in the United States, England, and Japan. Confirmatory factor analysis modeling was used to test for multigroup measurement invariance of a single-factor structure of the SWLS. Results support a single-factor structure of the SWLS across the 3 countries, with tests of measurement invariance of the SWLS supporting its configural invariance and metric invariance. These results suggest that the SWLS may be used as a single-factor measure of life satisfaction in the United States, England, and Japan, and that it is appropriate to compare correlates of the SWLS in middle-aged and older adults across these 3 countries. However, results provided evidence for only partial scalar invariance, with the intercept for SWLS Item 4 varying across countries. Cross-national comparisons of means revealed a lower mean at the latent variable level for the Japanese sample than for the other 2 samples. In addition, over and above the latent mean difference, the Japanese sample also manifested a significantly lower intercept on Item 4. Implications of the findings for research on cross-national comparisons of life satisfaction in European American and East Asian countries are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record