LIFE SATISFACTION INDEX FOR THE THIRD AGE
Directions: There are some statements about life in
general that people feel differently about. Please read
each statement on the list and circle the answer that
most closely reflects your attitude toward the statement.
There are no right or wrong answers and your opinion
on each of the statements is important. Thank you for
your confidential participation in this survey.
1.The things I do are as interesting to me as they
ever were.
2.As I grow older, things seem better than I thought
they would be.
3.Everything I have attempted in life has failed. ( /C0)
4.I get respect for the wisdom of my age and
experience.
5.This is the dreariest time of my life. ( /C0)
6.I would enjoy my life more if it were not so dull. ( /C0)
7.Life has not been good to me. ( /C0)
8.I have gotten more of the breaks in life than most of
the people I know.
9.The best of life is behind me. ( /C0)
10.I am just as happy as when I was younger.
11.I enjoy everything that I do.
12.I have been unable to do things right. The deck has
been stacked against me. ( /C0)
13.I achieved in my life what I set out to do.
14.I feel my age, but it does not bother me.
15.I am frequently down in the dumps. ( /C0)
16.I expect interesting and pleasant things to happen to
me in the future.
17.I have made both good and bad choices in my life
and I can live with the results.
18.As I look back on my life I am well satisfied.19.Compared to other people my age, I make a good
appearance.
20.I am appreciated by people who know me.
21.My life is great.
22.I would not change my past life even if I could.
23.When I think back over my life, I didn’t get the
important things I wanted. ( /C0)
24.I feel old and tired. ( /C0)
25.These are the best years of my life.
26.The things that I do are boring or monotonous. ( /C0)
27.Compared to other people my age, I’ve made a lot
of foolish decisions in my life. ( /C0)
28.I have gotten pretty much what I expected out
of life.
29.Everything is just great.
30.My life could be happier than it is now. ( /C0)
31.I have made plans for things I’ll be doing a month
from now.
32.I did it my way.
33.In spite of what people say, the fate of the average
person is getting worse, not better. ( /C0)
34.Compared to other people I often get depressed or
down in the dumps. ( /C0)
35.As I age I get more irritable. ( /C0)
Notes :
(/C0) Reverse keyed item.
Domains: Zest vs. apathy (items 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, and
31), resolution & fortitude (items 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 28,
32, and 33), congruence of goals (items 3, 8, 13, 18, and
23), self-concept (items 4, 9, 14, 19, and 24), mood tone
(items 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 29, 30, 34, and 35).
Reproduced with permission.
Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS)
(Huebner, 1991b )
Variable
Huebner (1991b) constructed the SLSS for the assessment of satisfaction with life as a whole, based on Diener’s
(1984) conceptualization of global life satisfaction.
Description
The SLSS, a self-report measure for 8 to 18-year-old children and adolescents, is composed of seven items
(two of them are reverse keyed). To facilitate judgments of life overall, items were written to be domain-free in
nature (e.g., ‘I have a good life’ instead of ‘I have a good family life’). The items were designed to be simple and
easy to read, and thus, to be appropriate for students representing a wide range of ages and intellectual abilities.
Whereas in early studies (e.g., Huebner, 1991b ), the SLSS used a 4-point answer format ranging from 1 5never
to 45always , the current form uses a 6-point Likert-type response format ranging from 1 5strongly disagree to
65strongly agree (cf.Huebner, Suldo, & Valois 2005 ).120 5. MEASURES OF LIFE SATISFACTION ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS