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Psychometric Evaluation of the Tagalog and German Subjective Happiness Scales and a Cross-Cultural Comparison

Social Indicators Research volume 93, pages 393–406 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) has recently been developed as a more complete measure for the assessment of molar subjective happiness. In the present study, we report on the translation and validation of German and Tagalog versions of the SHS and conduct an initial cross-cultural examination of subjective happiness. In Study 1, 960 participants in Austria completed a German version of the SHS, which showed a unidimensional structure, good internal consistency, and good convergent validity with other measures of subjective well-being. In Study 2, 182 participants in the Philippines completed a Tagalog version of the scale, which likewise had a unidimensional structure, high internal consistency, and good convergent validity. Finally, the results of Study 3 indicate that there were significant cross-cultural differences in subjective happiness. Specifically, participants in individualist Austria and Britain had higher SHS scores than their counterparts in collectivist Malaysia and the Philippines. Limitations of these studies are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Tanja Haubner for her assistance with the translation of the German version of the Subjective Happiness Scale.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2UW, UK

    Viren Swami & Laura Eisma

  2. Core Unit for Medical Education, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Stefan Stieger

  3. Department of Basic Psychological Research, School of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Martin Voracek & Stefan G. Dressler

  4. Department of Psychology, University College London, London, UK

    Adrian Furnham

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  1. Viren Swami
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  2. Stefan Stieger
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  5. Laura Eisma
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Correspondence to Viren Swami.

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Swami, V., Stieger, S., Voracek, M. et al. Psychometric Evaluation of the Tagalog and German Subjective Happiness Scales and a Cross-Cultural Comparison. Soc Indic Res 93, 393–406 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9331-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9331-7

Keywords

  • Subjective Happiness Scale
  • Well-being
  • Translation
  • Validation
  • Cross-cultural