Measurement Invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale Across 26 Countries
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Author(s)
Jang, Seulki
Kim, Eun Sook
Cao, Chunhua
Allen, Tammy D
Cooper, Cary L
Lapierre, Laurent M
O'Driscoll, Michael P
Sanchez, Juan I
Spector, Paul E
Poelmans, Steven AY
Abarca, Nureya
Alexandrova, Matilda
Antoniou, Alexandros-Stamatios
Beham, Barbara
Brough, Paula
Carikci, Ilker
Ferreiro, Pablo
Fraile, Guillermo
Geurts, Sabine
Kinnunen, Ulla
Lu, Chang-qin
Lu, Luo
Moreno-Velazquez, Ivonne F
Pagon, Milan
Pitariu, Horea
Salamatov, Volodymyr
Siu, Oi-ling
Shima, Satoru
Schulmeyer, Marion K
Tillemann, Kati
Widerszal-Bazyl, Maria
Woo, Jong-Min
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2017
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Show full item recordAbstract
The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a commonly used life satisfaction scale. Cross-cultural researchers use SWLS to compare mean scores of life satisfaction across countries. Despite the wide use of SWLS in cross-cultural studies, measurement invariance of SWLS has rarely been investigated, and previous studies showed inconsistent findings. Therefore, we examined the measurement invariance of SWLS with samples collected from 26 countries. To test measurement invariance, we utilized three measurement invariance techniques: (a) multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA), (b) multilevel confirmatory factor analysis ...
View more >The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a commonly used life satisfaction scale. Cross-cultural researchers use SWLS to compare mean scores of life satisfaction across countries. Despite the wide use of SWLS in cross-cultural studies, measurement invariance of SWLS has rarely been investigated, and previous studies showed inconsistent findings. Therefore, we examined the measurement invariance of SWLS with samples collected from 26 countries. To test measurement invariance, we utilized three measurement invariance techniques: (a) multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA), (b) multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (ML-CFA), and (c) alignment optimization methods. The three methods demonstrated that configural and metric invariances of life satisfaction held across 26 countries, whereas scalar invariance did not. With partial invariance testing, we identified that the intercepts of Items 2, 4, and 5 were noninvariant. Based on two invariant intercepts, factor means of countries were compared. Chile showed the highest factor mean; Spain and Bulgaria showed the lowest. The findings enhance our understanding of life satisfaction across countries, and they provide researchers and practitioners with practical guidance on how to conduct measurement invariance testing across countries.
View less >
View more >The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a commonly used life satisfaction scale. Cross-cultural researchers use SWLS to compare mean scores of life satisfaction across countries. Despite the wide use of SWLS in cross-cultural studies, measurement invariance of SWLS has rarely been investigated, and previous studies showed inconsistent findings. Therefore, we examined the measurement invariance of SWLS with samples collected from 26 countries. To test measurement invariance, we utilized three measurement invariance techniques: (a) multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA), (b) multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (ML-CFA), and (c) alignment optimization methods. The three methods demonstrated that configural and metric invariances of life satisfaction held across 26 countries, whereas scalar invariance did not. With partial invariance testing, we identified that the intercepts of Items 2, 4, and 5 were noninvariant. Based on two invariant intercepts, factor means of countries were compared. Chile showed the highest factor mean; Spain and Bulgaria showed the lowest. The findings enhance our understanding of life satisfaction across countries, and they provide researchers and practitioners with practical guidance on how to conduct measurement invariance testing across countries.
View less >
Journal Title
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume
48
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2017 The Author(s). This is the author-manuscript version of the paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Social and personality psychology
Psychology
Community psychology
Social psychology
Cognitive and computational psychology