Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Self-Informant Agreement in Well-Being Ratings: A Meta-Analysis

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A meta-analysis of published studies that reported correlations between self-ratings and informant ratings of well-being (life-satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, negative affect) was performed. The average self-informant correlation based on 44 independent samples and 81 correlations for a total of 8,897 participants was r = 0.42 [99% credibility interval = 0.39|0.45]. Statistically reliable moderators of agreement were construct (life-satisfaction = happiness > positive affect > negative affect), age of the target participant (older > younger), number of informants (multiple > single), and number of items in the measure (multiple > single). The implications for the validity of self-ratings of well-being as indicators of well-being are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the meta-analysis

  • *Barsky, A., Thoresen, C. J., Warren, C. R., & Kaplan, S. A. (2004). Modelling negative affectivity and job stress: A contingency-based approach. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 915–936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Bassett, S. S., Magaziner, J., & Hebel, J. R. (1990). Reliability of proxy response on mental health indices for aged, community-dwelling women. Psychology and Aging, 5, 127–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Borkenau, P., & Mauer, N. (2007). Well-being and the accessibility of pleasant and unpleasant concepts. European Journal of Personality, 21, 169–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borsboom, D. (2006). The attack of the psychometricians. Psychometrika, 71(3), 425–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1994). The earth is round (P-less-than .05). American Psychologist, 49, 997–1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, J. J., Kavanagh, E. J., & Viswesvaran, C. (2007). The convergent validity between self and observer ratings of personality: A meta-analytic review. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, 110–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Dew, T., & Huebner, E. S. (1994). Adolescents’ perceived quality of life—an exploratory investigation. Journal of School Psychology, 32, 185–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Diener, E., Smith, H., & Fujita, F. (1995). The personality structure of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 130–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eid, M., & Diener, E. (2004). Global judgments of subjective well-being: Situational variability and long-term stability. Social Indicators Research, 65, 245–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Eisenberg, N., et al. (1994). The relations of emotionality and regulation to dispositional and situational empathy-related responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 776–797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Gilligan, T. D., & Huebner, E. S. (2002). Multidimensional life satisfaction reports of adolescents: A multitrait-multimethod study. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 1149–1155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Gilman, R., & Huebner, E. S. (1997). Children’s reports of their life satisfaction—convergence across raters, time and response formats. School Psychology International, 18, 229–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Hartmann, G. W. (1934). Personality traits associated with variations in happiness. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 29, 202–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Heller, D., Watson, D., & Ilies, R. (2006). The dynamic process of life satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 74, 1421–1450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Huebner, E. S., Brantley, A., Nagle, R. J., & Valois, R. F. (2002). Correspondence between parent and adolescent ratings of life satisfaction for adolescents with and without mental disabilities. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 20, 20–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Judge, T. A., & Locke, E. A. (1993). Effect of dysfunctional thought processes on subjective well-being and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 475–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Kammann, R., Smith, R., Martin, C., & McQueen, M. (1984). Low accuracy in judgments of others’ psychological well-being as seen from a phenomenological perspective. Journal of Personality, 52, 107–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Kozma, A., & Stones, M. J. (1988). Social desirability in measures of subjective well-being—age comparisons. Social Indicators Research, 20, 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Lepper, H. S. (1998). Use of other-reports to validate subjective well-being measures. Social Indicators Research, 44, 367–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 616–628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Mplus user’s guide (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the satisfaction with life scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). The affective and cognitive context of self-reported measures of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 28, 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Pavot, W., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., & Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the satisfaction with life scale—evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 149–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Phillips, B. M., Lonigan, C. J., Driscoll, K., & Hooe, E. S. (2002). Positive and negative affectivity in children: A multitrait-multimethod investigation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31, 465–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Pruchno, R. A., Lemay, E. R., Field, L., & Levinsky, N. G. (2006). Predictors of patient treatment preferences and spouse substituted judgments: The case of dialysis continuation. Medical Decision Making, 26, 112–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Sandvik, E., Diener, E., & Seidlitz, L. (1993). Subjective well-being: The convergence and stability of self-report and non-self-report measures. Journal of Personality, 61, 317–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimmack, U. (2008). Wellbeingscience.org—the science of wellbeing (2008, September 25). Retrieved October 20, 2008, from http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3psyuli/WellBeingScience/wellbeingscience.htm.

  • *Schimmack, U., & Diener, E. (2003). Predictive validity of explicit and implicit self-esteem for subjective well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 100–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimmack, U., & Oishi, S. (2005). The influence of chronically and temporarily accessible information on life satisfaction judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 395–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, N., & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Walker, S. S., & Schimmack, U. (2008). Validity of a happiness implicit association test as a measure of subjective well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 490–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1991). Self-versus peer ratings of specific emotional traits: Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 927–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Watson, D., Hubbard, B., & Wiese, D. (2000). Self-other agreement in personality and affectivity: The role of acquaintanceship, trait visibility, and assumed similarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 546–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Watson, D., & Humrichouse, J. (2006). Personality development in emerging adulthood: Integrating evidence from self-ratings and spouse ratings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 959–974.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitener, E. M. (1990). Confusion of confidence-intervals and credibility intervals in meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(3), 315–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, W. (1967). Correlates of avowed happiness. Psychological Bulletin, 67, 294–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Simone Walker, Naoki Nakazato, and the members of the well-being laboratory at the University of Toronto Mississauga for their valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

    Leann Schneider & Ulrich Schimmack

Authors
  1. Leann Schneider
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ulrich Schimmack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrich Schimmack.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schneider, L., Schimmack, U. Self-Informant Agreement in Well-Being Ratings: A Meta-Analysis. Soc Indic Res 94, 363–376 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9440-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9440-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation