reliability ( Huebner et al., 2012 ). Furthermore, a promising 5-item measure exists, the Brief Multidimensional
Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS; Seligson, Huebner & Valois 2003 ), which assesses domain-specific satis-
faction with family, friendships, school experiences, self, and living environment with one item for each domain.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL STUDENTS’ LIFE SATISFACTION SCALE
We would like to know what thoughts about life
you’ve had during the past several weeks. Think about
how you spend each day and night and then think about
how your life has been during most of this time. Here
are some questions that ask you to indicate your satis-
faction with life. Circle the number (from 1 to 6) next to
each statement that indicates the extent to which you
agree or disagree with each statement. It is important to
know what you REALLY think, so please answer the
question the way you really feel, not how you think you
should. This is NOT a test. There are NO right or wrong
answers. Your answers will NOT affect your grades, and
no one will be told your answers.
1/C0Strongly disagree; 2 /C0Moderately disagree;
3/C0Mildly disagree; 4 /C0Mildly agree; 5 /C0Moderately
agree; 6 /C0Strongly agree
1.My friends are nice to me.
2.I am fun to be around.
3.I feel bad at school.*
4.I have a bad time with my friends.*
5.There are lots of things I can do well.
6.I learn a lot at school.
7.I like spending time with my parents.
8.My family is better than most.
9.There are many things about school I don’t like.*
10.I think I am good looking.
11.My friends are great.
12.My friends will help me if I need it.
13.I wish I didn’t have to go to school.*
14.I like myself.
15.There are lots of fun things to do where I live.16.My friends treat me well.
17.Most people like me.
18.I enjoy being at home with my family.
19.My family gets along well together.
20.I look forward to going to school.
21.My parents treat me fairly.
22.I like being in school.
23.My friends are mean to me.*
24.I wish I had different friends.*
25.School is interesting.
26.I enjoy school activities.
27.I wish I lived in a different house.*
28.Members of my family talk nicely to one another.
29.I have a lot of fun with my friends.
30.My parents and I do fun things together.
31.I like my neighborhood.
32.I wish I lived somewhere else.*
33.I am a nice person.
34.This town is filled with mean people.*
35.I like to try new things.
36.My family’s house is nice.
37.I like my neighbors.
38.I have enough friends.
39.I wish there were different people in my
neighborhood.*
40.I like where I live.
Notes :
*Reverse keyed item.
Source: http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/psyc/faculty/
Scott_Huebner (Retrieved May 9, 2014).
Reproduced with permission.
FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
The breadth and depth of life satisfaction measures available has increased considerably over the last several
decades. A variety of measures now exist that offer reliable methods for assessing a person’s cognitive judgments
of their quality of life for different age groups, different clinical populations, using a variety of formats
(top down vs. bottom up; unidimensional vs. multidimensional; brief vs. comprehensive). Most of these scales
have been published since Andrews and Robinson’s (1991) contribution to the previous edition of this text,
reflecting a significant expansion of measures and corresponding research to the literature base.
The measures reviewed within this chapter vary in the number and quality of reliability and validity studies;
however, all have provided some level of research evidence supporting their use for various purposes, especially
research purposes. Research to date suggests that the measure with the most reliability and validity evidence
across college-age, middle-age, and senior adults of adult global life satisfaction, for use with the general popula-
tion is the SWLS. Multidimensional measures of life satisfaction show promising reliability and validity evidence126 5. MEASURES OF LIFE SATISFACTION ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS