Life satisfaction

Extensive research has been conducted in psychology and the social sciences to understand the factors influencing well-being. Nevertheless, it is only relatively recently that subjective measures of well-being have begun to be taken seriously outside academia. In the UK there has been a groundswell of interest in the potential of subjective well-being measures both from within government and from those ­ such as nef ­ seeking to inform and influence policy from outside. However, just as there is controversy over whether IQ tests really measure intelligence, there is considerable debate over whether self-reports of life satisfaction have anything to do with real ‘well-being’. Yet, self-reports of life satisfaction are considered valid if they correlate reliably with predicted objective indicators that are thought to be associated with well-being. Most academics working on well-being are satisfied that ratings of life satisfaction within a country or culture are acceptably valid. An individual’s self-reported life satisfaction correlates with reports from loved ones, with how often they experience good moods, and even the likelihood they will commit suicide later on in their life. People with positive self-perceptions also tend to live longer than those who regard themselves more negatively. As well as being valid, self-reports of life satisfaction seem to be reliable. In other words, people tend to give the same patterns of response over time, and when slightly different question wordings are used.

Some researchers ­ notably those from an economics background ­ tend to see happiness, life satisfaction and well-being as synonymous and interchangeable. But there are important and clearly discernable differences. Satisfaction with life overall, tends to be generally stable since it reflects a summary of “judgements about feelings”. Whilst on the individual level, day-to-day changes in happiness are of interest, at a policy level it is overall satisfaction that gives the best indication of how groups of people are faring. If a majority of people in a country report dissatisfaction with their lives, this seems to be a reasonable indication that something is awry, either with government policy, with society, or with both.

International surveys tend to consider life satisfaction by asking respondents a question such as: ‘If you consider your life overall, how satisfied would you say you are nowadays?’ Responses are given on a 0­10 scale, from not at all satisfied to extremely satisfied. Clearly this is not a perfect measure. Ideally, subjective well-being would be assessed by asking a series of questions, perhaps probing different aspects of life and framing the issue in different ways so as to gain a more complete picture. As a general indicator of the state of well-being in a country, however, this single question performs surprisingly well, showing good validity when compared with other national-level statistics.