Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness
The mission of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness is to build a rigorous and interdisciplinary science of positive health, happiness, and well-being with a focus on health equity, and to translate the science to influence practice and policy.
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Well-being Measurement
Disclaimer
This page includes 41 well-being measures and 20 well-being datasets, compiled by the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness to aid scholars undertaking research into well-being. Please note that the measures linked to here were not created by, and are not the property of, the Center.
If you are interested in using the measures, please contact the researchers who developed them.
What is well-being?
According to the World Health Organization, “Well-being is a positive state experienced by individuals and societies. Similar to health, it is a resource for daily life and is determined by social, economic and environmental conditions. Well-being encompasses quality of life and the ability of people and societies to contribute to the world with a sense of meaning and purpose.” Well-being is a broad construct that encompasses multiple dimensions, which can essentially be divided into two large domains: objective and subjective. Various scales have been developed to measure both domains.
Objective Well-being Measures
Higher levels of objective well-being are usually characterized by higher educational attainment, safe neighborhoods, as well as economic sufficiency and stability, for instance. Thus, objective well-being is often assessed using indicators that measure aspects of education, physical and built environment, community, and economy. This approach tends to capture a societal rather than an individual perspective on well-being that is based on material, tangible and quantitative indicators.
Subjective Well-being Measures
Subjective well-being is characterized by an individual’s internal subjective assessment, based on cognitive judgments and affective reactions, of their own life as a whole. There are various sub-dimensions that investigators consider within the domain of subjective well-being, which include the psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of well-being. Many scales have been developed for use in scientific studies to assess individuals’ subjective well-being across the life course.
The presence of positive feelings (e.g., good self-esteem). (Stoll & Polastri, 2023).
| Measure | Citation | Number of Items |
| Scales of Psychological Well-Being | Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719 | 18 |
| General Well-Being Schedule | Dupuy, H. J. (1977). The General Well-being Schedule. In I. McDowell & C. Newell (Eds.), Measuring health: A guide to rating scales and questionnaires. Oxford University Press, (2nd ed., pp. 206-213) | 23 |
| Life Satisfaction Rating Scales | Neugarten, B.L., Havighurst, R.J., & Tobin S.S. (1961). The measurement of life satisfaction. Journal of Gerontology, 16:2, 134-143 | 20 |
| Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire | Patrick, C., Curtin, J., & Tellegen, A. (2002). Development and validation of a brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 14(2): 150-6300 | 276 |
| Quality of Life Scale (CASP-19) | M. Hyde, R. D. Wiggins, P. Higgs & D. B. Blane. (2003). A measure of quality of life in early old age: The theory, development and properties of a needs satisfaction model (CASP-19). Aging & Mental Health, 7:3, 186-194 | 19 |
| Mental Health Continuum Short Form | Lamers, S. M. A., Westerhof, G. J., Bohlmeijer, E. T., ten Klooster, P. M., & Keyes, C. L. M. (2011). Evaluating the psychometric properties of the mental health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(1), 99-110 | 14 |
The extent to which an individual subjectively experiences positive moods such as joy, interest, and alertness. (Miller, 2011).
| Measure | Citation | Number of Items |
| Positive and Negative Affect Schedule | Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of personality and social psychology, 54(6), 1063 | 10-items measuring positive affect, 10-items measuring negative affect |
| Bradburn Scale of Psychological Well-Being (Affect Balance Scale) | Bradburn NM & Noll CE. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago, IL | 5 items assess positive affect, 5 items assess negative affect |
| Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire | Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1991). The mood and anxiety symptom questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, University of Iowa, Department of Psychology, Iowa City | 24 |
| Day Reconstruction Method | Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306 (5702), 1776-1780 | 12, including 4 positive and 8 negative |
| Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale | Shiota, M. N., Keltner, D., & John, O. P. (2006). Positive emotion dispositions differentially associated with Big Five personality and attachment style. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(2), 61-71 | 38 items total; seven 5- or 6-item scales |
Having a sense of core goals, aims, and direction in life. (Martela & Steger, 2016).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Life Engagement Test | Scheier, M. F., Wrosch, C., Baum, A., Cohen, S., Martire, L. M., Matthews, K. A., Schulz, R. & Zdaniuk, B. (2006). The Life Engagement Test: Assessing purpose in life. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29(3), 291 | 6 |
| Seeking of Noetic Goals Test | Crumbaugh, J. C. (1977). The seeking of noetic goals test (SONG): A complementary scale to the purpose in life test (PIL). Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33(3), 900-907 | |
| Sense of Coherence Scale (Orientation to Life Questionnaire) | Antonovsky, A. (1993). The structure and properties of the Sense of Coherence Scale. Social Science Medicine, 36(6), 725-733 | 29 |
| Meaning in Life Questionnaire | Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80-93 |
A state of optimal functioning and well-being across all aspects of an individual’s life. (Logan, Berman, & Prescott, 2023).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Flourishing Scale | Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New measures of well-being: Flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 39, 247-266 | 8 |
| Flourishing Index | VanderWeele, T.J. (2017). On the promotion of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 31:8148-8156 | 12 |
| PERMA-Profiler | Butler, J., & Kern, M. L. (2016). The PERMA-Profiler: A brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 6(3), 1-48 | 23 items (short-form includes 15 items, but full measure is recommended) |
A construct that includes (1) physical energy and well-being, (2) regulation of mood, (3) mastery, and (4) engagement and interest in life. (Barbic, Bartlett, & Mayo, 2013).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Emotional Vitality V1 | Penninx, B. W., Guralnik, J. M., Simonsick, E. M., Kasper, J. D., Ferrucci, L., & Fried, L. P. (1998). Emotional vitality among disabled older women: The Women’s Health and Aging Study. Journal Geriatric Society, 46(7), 807-815 | 4 |
| Emotional Vitality V2 | Kubzansky, L. D., & Thurston, R. C. (2007). Emotional vitality and incident coronary heart disease: Benefits of healthy psychological functioning. Journal Archive General Psychiatry, 64(12), 1393-1401 | 6 |
A person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her life. (Diener, Lucas, & Oishi, 2002).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Satisfaction with Life Scale | Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of personality assessment, 49(1), 71-75 | 5 |
| Life Satisfaction Scale | Koivumaa-Honkanen, H., Kaprio, J., Honkanen, R., Viinamäki, H., & Koskenvuo, M. (2004). Life satisfaction and depression in a 15-year follow-up of healthy adults. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 39(12), 994-999 | 4 |
Having a sense of control over the forces that affect one’s life. (Conger, et al, 2009).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Pearlin Mastery Scale | Pearlin, L. I., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of health and social behavior, 2-21 | 7 |
| Internal-External Locus of Control Scale | Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological monographs: General and applied, 80(1), 1 | 29 (6 filler items) |
Predominantly used as synonymous with life satisfaction or subjective well-being, a composite construct including the cognitive component of life satisfaction and the affective component of positive emotions. (Fave, et al, 2016).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Subjective Happiness Scale | Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social indicators research, 46 (2), 137-155 | 4 |
A feeling of a person that they are doing something useful for someone else or society and, consequently, feels that life is worth living. (Fukuzawa, et al, 2019).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Ikigai | Nakanishi, N. (1999). ‘Ikigai’ in older Japanese people. Journal of Age and Ageing, 28(3), 323-324 | 1 |
The tendency to expect good things in the future. (Conversano, et al, 2010).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Life Orientation Test | Michael F. Scheier & Charles S. Carver. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Journal of Health Psychology, 4, 219-247 | 12 (including 4 filler items) |
A psychological state of intellectual, interpersonal and psychological engagement, learning, and growth that is exhibited in high levels of well-being as well as high levels of performance in particular domains. (Schreiner, 2023).
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving | Su, R., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2014). The development and validation of the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) and the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT). Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 6(3), 251–279 | CIT – 54 items (3 items per 18 subscales). BIT – 10 items (1 item per 10 subscales) |
- Brandstatter, M., Baumann, U., Borasio, G. D., & Fegg, M. J. (2012). Systematic review of meaning in life assessment instruments. Psycho-oncology, 21(10), 1034-1052
- Cooke, P. J., Melchert, T. P., & Connor, K. (2016). Measuring well-being: A review of instruments. The Counseling Psychologist, 44(5), 730-757
- Diener, E., Inglehart, R., & Tay, L. (2013). Theory and validity of life satisfaction scales. Social Indicators Research, 112, 497-527
- Hone, L.C., Jarden, A., Schofield, G.M., & Duncan, S. (2014). Measuring flourishing: The impact of operational definitions on the prevalence of high levels of wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 4(1), 62-90
- Lindert, J., Bain, P. A., Kubzansky, L. D., & Stein, C. (2013). Well-being measurement and the WHO health policy Health 2010: Systematic review of measurement scales. European Journal of Public Health, 25(4), 731-740
- Linton, M. J., Dieppe, P., & Medina-Lara, A. (2016). Review of 99 self-report measures for assessing well-being in adults: Exploring dimensions of well-being and developments over time. BMJ Open, 6(7), e010641
- National Research Council. (2013). Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press
- Salsman, J. M., Lai, J. S., Hendrie, H. C., Butt, Z., Zill, N., Pilkonis, P. A., et al. (2014). Assessing psychological well-being: Self-report instruments for the NIH Toolbox. Quality of Life Research, 23(1), 205-215
- Tsang, K. L., Wong, P. Y., & Lo, S. K. (2012). Assessing psychosocial well-being of adolescents: A systematic review of measuring instruments. Child: Care, Health and Development, 38(5), 629-646
Workplace Well-being
Work is a major social determinant of health. Workplace well-being can be defined as “any combination of holistic workplace characteristics that support healthy behavior in the workplace, improve health outcomes, and strengthen workplace culture…. Practices that support workplace wellness help reduce health risks, enhance productivity, improve employees’ quality of life and happiness levels, benefit the organization’s bottom line, and help the organization recruit and retain top talent.” Michigan State University.
For more information on workplace well-being, please visit the website of the Work and Well-being Initiative (WWBI), a collaboration between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the MIT Sloan School for Management. The WWBI is a multi-disciplinary research and policy initiative to develop and implement evidence-based workplace changes that will foster worker well-being. Additional resources, including workplace well-being assessment tools, can be found here.
| Scale | Citation | Number of Items |
| Affective Well-being at Work | Daniels, K. (2000). Measures of five aspects of affective well-being at work. Journal of Human Relations, 53(2), 275-294 | 30 items; Short-form: 10 items |
| Job-Related Affective Well-Being Scale (JAWS) | Van Katwyk, P. T., Fox, S., Spector, P. E., & Kelloway, E. K. (2000). Using the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS) to investigate affective responses to work stressors. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 219-230 | 30 |
| WARR Scale of Job-related Affective Well-being (Warr’s Measure) | Warr, P. (1990). The measurement of wellbeing and other aspects of mental health. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 193-210 | 52 |
| Index of Psychological Well-Being at Work | Dagenais-Desmarais, V., Savoie, A. (2012). What is Psychological Well-Being, Really? A Grassroots Approach from the Organizational Sciences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 659–684 | 80 |
| Workplace Wellbeing Questionnaire (WWQ) | Parker, G. B., & Hyett, M. P. (2011). Measurement of well-being in the workplace: The development of the work well-being questionnaire. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 199(6), 394–397 | |
| Thriving at Work | Porath, C., Spreitzer, G., Gibson, C. & Garnett, F.G. (2012), Thriving at work: Toward its measurement, construct validation, and theoretical refinement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33: 250-275 | 10 |
| Employee Well-Being Scale | Zheng, X., Zhu, W., Zhao, H., & Zhang, C. (2015). Employee well-being in organizations: Theoretical model, scale development, and cross-cultural validation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36, 621-644 | 18 |
Well-being Datasets
The tables below include information on tools and links to relevant websites that nations and organizations across the globe use to assess well-being, and the different dimensions that each tool emphasizes.
| Dataset | Country | Measures of well-being |
| Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey | Australia | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Flourishing (multidimensional) Positive affect Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai Life satisfaction Subjective happiness |
| Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe (HAPIEE) Study | Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Lithuania | Quality of life Subjective happiness Social support Perceived control Community-level psychosocial measures |
| The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) | England | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Optimism Positive affect Life satisfaction Social support / integration / cohesion Prosocial behavior or attitudes |
| The German Socio-Economic Panel | Germany | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Life satisfaction |
| 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS) | Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Flourishing Positive affect Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai Life satisfaction Subjective happiness Prosocial behavior and attitudes Healthy family functioning Positive parenting practices |
| 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) | Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Flourishing Positive affect Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai Life satisfaction Social support / integration / cohesion Prosocial behavior and attitudes Healthy family functioning |
| Stress and Health Study (Whitehall II) | Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) | Optimism Life satisfaction Emotional vitality |
| Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) | Japan | Flourishing (multidimensional) Optimism Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai Life satisfaction Subjective happiness Social support / integration / cohesion Prosocial behavior or attitudes |
| British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) & UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) | United Kingdom | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Positive affect Life satisfaction Subjective happiness Social support / integration / cohesion Prosocial behavior or attitudes (e.g., volunteering, helping others) |
| Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) / “Child of the New Century” Study | United Kingdom | Subjective happiness Social support / integration / cohesion |
| Health & Retirement Study (HRS) | United States | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Flourishing (multidimensional) Optimism Positive affect Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai Life satisfaction Mastery Subjective happiness Social support / integration / cohesion Social capital Prosocial behavior or attitudes Personal growth or self-acceptance |
| Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) | United States | Positive psychological well-being (overall / multidimensional) Optimism Positive affect Purpose / meaning in life / ikigai Life satisfaction Mastery Personal growth or self-acceptance Healthy family functioning |
| Nurses’ Health Study (NHS I) and Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II) | United States | Optimism Purpose / Meaning in Life / Ikigai Life Satisfaction |
| Nashville Stress and Health Study | United States | Optimism Life Satisfaction Subjective Happiness Perceptions of Mattering |
| The Jackson Heart Study | United States | Optimism Mastery Social support / integration / cohesion Prosocial behavior or attitudes (e.g., volunteering, helping others) |
| The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) | United States | Optimism Social support / integration / cohesion |
| The Framingham Heart Study | United States | Social support / integration / cohesion |
| Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) | United States | Optimism Positive Affect Purpose / Meaning in Life / Ikigai Life Satisfaction Positive Parenting Practices |
| Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) | United States | Positive psychological well-being (overall /multidimensional) Optimism Social support / integration / cohesion |
| Dataset | Report | Main construct measured |
| BCG’s SEDA | 2019 SEDA Assessment: Hrotko, J., Rueda-Sabater, E., Lang, N., Chin, V. (2019). Measure Well-Being to Improve It: The 2019 Sustainable Economic Development Assessment. Boston Consulting Group | Well-Being by country [SEDA – Sustainable Economic Development Assessment and Citizen Well-Being] |
| Canadian Index of Well-Being | 2016 CIW National Report: Canadian Index of Wellbeing. (2016). How are Canadians Really Doing? The 2016 CIW National Report. Waterloo, ON: Canadian Index of Wellbeing and University of Waterloo. | |
| European Social Survey | European Social Survey Toolkit: European Social Survey. (2015). Measuring and Reporting on Europeans’ Wellbeing: Findings from the European Social Survey. London: ESS ERIC | Well-Being in Europe |
| Gallup World Poll | Gallup Global Well-Being Report: Gallup. (2010). Gallup Global Wellbeing: The Behavioral Economics of GDP Growth. Washington, D.C.: Gallup, Inc. | Well-Being |
| Gallup-Sharecare Community Well-Being Index | 2020 Report: Sharecare. (2020). Sharecare Community Well-Being Index: 2020 Metro Area and County Report. | US Community Well-being |
| Happy Planet Index | 2019 Happy Planet Index Data: Wellbeing Economy Alliance. (2019). The 2019 Happy Planet Index | Sustainable Well-Being by Country |
| Human Development Index | 2020 Human Development Report: United Nations Development Programme. (2020). The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene | Human Development Rating by Country |
| OECD Better Life Index | 2020 OECD Report: OECD. (2020). How’s Life? 2020: Measuring Well-Being. OECD Publishing Population | Well-Being by Country |
| UK Annual Population Survey: Well-Being Measure | Personal well-being in the UK, quarterly: Office for National Statistics. (2021). Personal Well-Being in the UK, Quarterly: April 2011 to June 2021 | Well-Being in the UK |
