Definition
The Subjective Happiness Scale is a 4-item measure of overall subjective happiness based on the respondent’s own perspective.
Description
The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) is a 4-item self-report measure developed to assess an individual’s overall happiness as measured through self-evaluation (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999). The response format is a 7-point Likert-type scale. A single composite score is computed by averaging the responses to the four items following reverse coding of the fourth item. Scores range from 1.0 to 7.0, with higher scores reflecting greater happiness (Lyubomirsky & Lepper).
Item one asks respondents to what extent they identify themselves as being a happy person (1 = not a very happy person, 7 = a very happy person), whereas item two asks respondents to rate their level of happiness relative to their peers (1 = less happy, 7 = more happy). The third and fourth...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andrews, E., & Withey, S. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: Americans’ perceptions of life quality. New York: Plenum Press.
Bradburn, N. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago: Alpine.
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575.
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well being. The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34–43.
Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 4, 137–155.
Mattei, D., & Schaefer, C. E. (2004). An investigation of validity of the subjective happiness scale. Psychological Reports, 94, 288–290.
Shimai, S., Otake, K., Utsuki, N., Ikemi, A., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2004). Development of a Japanese version of the subjective happiness scale (SHS), and examination of its validity and reliability. Japanese Journal of Public Health, 51, 1–9.
Shultz, K. S., & Whitney, D. J. (2005). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Measurement theory in action: Case studies and exercises. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Swami, V. (2008). Translation and validation of the Malay subjective happiness scale. Social Indicators Research, 88, 347–353.
Swami, V., Stieger, S., Voracek, M., Dressler, S., Eisma, L., & Furnham, A. (2009). Psychometric evaluation of the tagalog and German subjective happiness scales and a cross-cultural comparison. Social Indicators Research, 93, 393–406. doi:10.1007/s11205-008-9331-7.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Chinni, M. (2014). Subjective Happiness Scale. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2898
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2898
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0752-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0753-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law