Life satisfaction around the world: Measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With
Life Scale (SWLS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups
The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a widely used self-report measure of subjective
well-being, but studies of its measurement invariance across a large number of nations
remain limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset–with data
collected between 2020 and 2022 –to assess measurement invariance of the SWLS across
65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups ( N = 56,968). All participants
completed the SWLS under largely uniform conditions. Multi-group confirmatory factor
analysis indicated that configural and metric invariance was upheld across all nations,
languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional SWLS
model has universal applicability. Full scalar invariance was achieved across gender
identities and age groups. Based on alignment optimisation methods, partial scalar
invariance was achieved across all but three national groups and across all languages
represented in the BINS. There were large differences in latent SWLS means across
nations and languages, but negligible-to-small differences across gender identities
and age groups. Across nations, greater life satisfaction was significantly associated
with greater financial security and being in a committed relationship or married.
The results of this study suggest that the SWLS largely assesses a common unidimensional
construct of life satisfaction irrespective of respondent characteristics (i.e., national
group, gender identities, and age group) or survey presentation (i.e., survey language).
This has important implications for the assessment of life satisfaction across nations
and provides information that will be useful for practitioners aiming to promote subjective
well-being internationally.
