Extended Satisfaction with Life Scale (ESWLS)
(Alfonso et al., 1996 )
Variable
Alfonso et al. (1996) defined the cognitive component of subjective well-being as the ‘intellectual evaluation of
one’s life satisfaction either globally or with respect to specific life domains’ (p. 276; cf. Andrews & Robinson,
1991;George, 1981 ;Myers & Diener, 1995 ;Pavot & Diener, 1993 ). The selected domains of interest were those
highlighted within well-known, sophisticated approaches to subjective well-being and life satisfaction as well
as those being most strongly related to overall subjective well-being and those applicable to most people
(e.g., Alfonso, 1995 ;Alfonso, Allison, & Dunn 1992 ;Diener, 1984 ;Myers & Diener, 1995 ). These domains are
social life, sexual life, relationship, self, physical appearance, family life, school life, and job.
Description
The ESWLS measures an individual’s satisfaction with life in general, and with respect to eight life domains
(i.e., social life, sexual life, relationships, self, physical appearance, family life, school life, and job) with a total of
50 items, using a 7-point Likert-type response format (ranging from 1 5strongly disagree to 75strongly agree ).
All subscales are measured with five items except for job satisfaction, which comprises 10 items.
Items of the ESWLS (except school life and job) were based on the phrasing of the SWLS items ( Diener et al.,
1985). The SWLS items were replicated with minor modifications. For example, Alfonso et al. (1996) changed
‘In most ways my life is close to my ideal’ to ‘In most ways my social life is close to my ideal’. The SWLS item
‘If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing’ was modified to ‘I am generally pleased with my life
I lead’ to exclude the regret-related connotation of this item (cf. Alfonso et al., 1996 ). The items measuring school
life derived from the Perceived Quality of Academic Life scale (PQAL; Okun, Kardash, Stock, Sandler, & Baumann
1986), but were converted to the wording of the rest of the items of the ESWLS. Job satisfaction items were based
on the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire /C0Short Form (MSQ; Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist 1967 ), but are
not identical with respect to wording.
Sample
The total sample was comprised of 302 undergraduate students, which were mainly white, single, and had
middle class backgrounds. The exact number of respondents varied across subscales from 182 for job satisfaction
to 302 for satisfaction with self. A total of 109 participants completed the ESWLS twice allowing for analyzing the
test/C0retest reliability. Means of the five-item scales ranged from 19.6 (physical appearance) to 25.1 (social life,
self) with standard deviations ranging from 4.7 (school life) to 8.3 (family life). The 10-item subscale of job satis-
faction had a mean of 48.2 with a standard deviation of 11.0 (cf. Alfonso et al., 1996 ).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
For the five-item scales, Cronbach alpha coefficients were high ranging from α5.81 (school life) to α5.96
(social life, sex life, relationship). Job satisfaction exhibited a high alpha coefficient as well ( α5.88) ( Alfonso
et al., 1996 ).
Test/C0Retest
Two-week test /C0retest reliability coefficients ranged from rtt5.74 (school life) to rtt5.87 (sex life) ( Alfonso
et al., 1996 ).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Intercorrelations among the subscales of the ESWLS, and correlations between the ESWLS and the Rosenberg
Self Esteem Scale (RSE; Rosenberg, 1965 ), and Self-Deception Subscale of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable
Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1991 ) were reported as indicators of convergent validity in Alfonso et al. (1996) .
The domain-related subscales of the ESWLS showed positive correlations with the general satisfaction score with
coefficients ranging from r5.28 (school) to r5.63 (self). The intercorrelations among the domain specific sub-
scales ranged from r5.11 (relationship /C0physical appearance) to r5.57 (relationship /C0sex life). The subscale of113 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS