Subjective Happiness Scale

What it measures

Measures global subjective happiness — the individual's overall sense that they are a happy person — using four items that anchor the construct in self-relative terms and comparison with others. Two items ask respondents to characterise themselves on a scale from 'not a very happy person' to 'a very happy person' and from 'less happy' to 'more happy' than peers. Two further items describe happy and unhappy people respectively, asking how well each description fits. The SHS captures a stable individual difference in happiness orientation rather than current mood, making it suitable for both trait measurement and as an outcome in wellbeing interventions. Widely used alongside the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) as a two-scale hedonic wellbeing battery — the SWLS captures cognitive life evaluation while the SHS captures affective self-characterisation.

Representative items

• In general, I consider myself: (1 = not a very happy person, 7 = a very happy person)
• Compared with most of my peers, I consider myself: (1 = less happy, 7 = more happy)
• Some people are generally very happy. They enjoy life regardless of what is going on, getting the most out of everything. To what extent does this characterisation describe you?
• Some people are generally not very happy. Although they are not depressed, they never seem as happy as they might be. To what extent does this characterisation describe you? (R)

Citation

Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H.S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46(2), 137–155.