Measurement Invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Roma Minority and Romanian Majority Adolescents in Romania
Keywords:
measurement invariance, confirmatory factor analysis, SWSL, Roma, RomaniaAbstract
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) is one of the most widely used scales for the measurement of subjective well-being. Yet, its measurement invariance and factor structure have not been investigated across culturally diverse samples in Romania. This study addressed this gap in a sample of Roma minority (n = 378), and Romanian majority adolescents (n = 465) in Romania. We found support for scalar invariance, indicating similar patterns and strengths in factor loadings, means and intercepts across samples. SWLS mean comparisons did not show group differences in life satisfaction. We conclude that the SWLS is a brief and valid measure of life satisfaction that can be used for cultural comparison with samples from Romania.
Downloads
References
Amnesty International (2013). Europe: Discrimination against Roma. Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR01/012/2007
Anaby, D., Jarus, T., & Zumbo, B. D. (2010). Psychometric evaluation of the Hebrew language version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Social Indicators Research, 96, 267–274. doi:10.1007/s11205-009-9476-z
Andren, D., & Martinsson, P. (2003). What contributes to life satisfaction in transitional Romania? Source Paper, University of Göteborg, Department of Economics, Göteborg, Sweden. Retrieved from http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_bib/freetexts/andren_d_2003.pdf
Arbuckle, J. (2009). Amos 19. Crawfordville, FL: AMOS Development Corporation.
Arrindell, W. A., Meeuwesen, L., & Huyse, F. J. (1991). The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS): Psychometric properties in a non-psychiatric medical outpatients sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 117–123. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(91)90094-R
Atienza, F. L., Pons, D., Balaguer, I. U., & Garcia-Merita, M. (2000). Psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in adolescents. Psicothema, 12, 314–319.
Ayyash-Abdo, H., & Alamuddin, R. (2007). Predictors of subjective well-being among college youth in Lebanon. The Journal of Social Psychology, 147, 265–284. doi:10.3200/SOCP.147.3.265-284
Bai, X., Wu, C., Rui-Zheng, R., & Ren, X. (2011). The psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale using a nationally representative sample of China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12, 183–197. doi:10.1007/s10902-010-9186-x
Bălţătescu, S. (2007). Bunăstarea subiectivă în noile ţări membre ale UE: O evaluare comparativă a tendinţelor, Sociologie Românească, 5, 23–41. Retrieved from http://www.arsociologie.ro/ro/sociologieromaneasca/arhiva/220-rezumat-baltatescu-3-2007
Bălţătescu, S. (2007). Stabilitate şi schimbare în nivelurile şi structura bunăstarii subiective: România 1997-1999, Calitatea vieţii, 18, 126–136, Retrieved from http://www.revistacalitateavietii.ro/2007/CV-1-2-2007/7.pdf
Bălţătescu, S. (2014). Gender and age differences in subjective well-being: Romania 1990–2005, In E. Eckermann (Ed.), Gender, lifespan and quality of life (pp. 99–114). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer
Billiet, J. (2002). Cross-cultural equivalence with structural equation modeling. In P. P. Mohler (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Survey Methods (pp. 247–264). New York, NY: Wiley.
Cazan, A. M. (2014). The Romanian version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Romanian Journal of Experimental Applied Psychology, 5, 42–47.
Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling- A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14, 464–504. doi:10.1080/10705510701301834
Cicchetti, D. (1994). Guidelines, criteria and rules of thumbs for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment, 6, 284–90. doi:0.1037/1040-3590.6.4.284
Clench-Aas, J., Nes, R. B., Dalgard, O. S., & Aarø, L. E. (2011). Dimensionality and measurement invariance in the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Norway. Quality of Life Research, 20, 1307–1317. doi:10.1007/s11136-011-9859-x
Currie, C., Zanotti, C., Morgan, A., Currie, D., Looze, M., Roberts, C., Samdal, O., Smith, O. R. F., Barnekow, V. (2012). Social determinants of health and well-being among young people. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study: International report from the 2009/2010 survey. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Health Policy for Children and Adolescents, No. 6.
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34–43. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34
Diener, E., & Suh, E. M. (1999). National differences in subjective wellbeing. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 434–452). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
Diener, E., Kesebir, P., & Lucas, R. (2008). Benefits of accounts of well-being—for societies and for psychological science. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57, 37-53. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00353.x
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-425. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. E. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276
Dimitrov, D. M. (2010). Testing for factorial invariance in the context of construct validation. Measurement and Evaluation in Counselling and Development, 43, 121–149. doi:10.1177/0748175610373459
Eurostat (2015). How satisfied are people with their lives in the European Union? A new multi-dimensional data collection. Retrieved from http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STAT-15-4634_en.htm
European Commission (2011). An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020. Retrieved from ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/discrimination/docs/com_2011_173_en.pdf
Glaesmer, H., Grande, G., Braehler, E., & Roth, M. (2011). The German version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale—Psychometric properties and population based norms. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 27, 127–132. doi:10.1027/1015-5759/a000058
Goldbeck, L., Schmitz, T. G., Besier, T., Herschbach, P., & Henrich, G. (2007). Life satisfaction decreases during adolescence. Quality of Life Research, 16, 969–979. doi:10.1007/s11136-007-9205-5
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling- A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118
Hultell, D., & Gustavsson, J. P. (2008). A psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in a Swedish nationwide sample of university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1070–1079. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.030
Inglehart, R., Foa, R., Peterson, C., & Weizel, C. (2008). Development, freedom, and rising happiness: A global perspective, 1981–2007. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 264–285. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00078.x
Jöreskog, K. G. (1971). Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations. Psychometrika, 36, 409–426. doi:10.1007/BF02291366.
Judge, T. A., & Watanabe, S. (1994). Individual differences in the nature of the relationship between job and life satisfaction. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67, 101–107. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1994.tb00554.x
Kamberi, E., Martinovic, B., & Verkuijten, M. (2014). Life satisfaction and happiness among the Roma in Central and Southeastern Europe. Social Indicators Research, 124, 199–220 doi:10.1007/s11205-014-0783-7
Kuppens, P., Ceulemans, E., Timmerman, M.E., Diener, E., & Kim-Prieto, C. (2006). Universal intracultural and intercultural dimensions of the recalled frequency of emotional experience. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 491–515. doi:10.1177/0022022106290474
Lewis, C. A., Shevlin, M. E., Sme’kal, V., & Dorahy, M. J. (1999). Factor structure and reliability of a Czech translation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale among Czech university students. Studia Psychologica, 41, 239–244.
Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 616–628. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.3.616
Marks, N., Abdallah, S., Simms, A., & Thompson, S. (2006). The happy planet index. London, United Kingdom: New Economics Foundation.
Mărginean, I., Precupeţu , I., & Preoteasa, A.M. (2002). Evoluţii în domeniul surselor standardului economic al populaţiei relevate de diagnoza calităţii vieţii. In Mărginean I., Bălaşa A., Calitatea Vieţii în România (pp. 251–260). Bucureşti: Expert.
Meade, A. W., Johnson, E. C., & Braddy, P. W. (2008). Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 568–592. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.568
Negovan, V. (2010). Dimensions of students’ psychosocial well-being and their measurement: Validation of a students’ Psychosocial Well Being Inventory. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 2, 85–104. doi:10.5964/ejop.v6i2.186
Park, N., Peterson, C., & Ruch, W. (2009) Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction in twenty-seven nations. The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice, 4, 273–279. doi:10.1080/17439760902933690
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164–172. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.5.2.164
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2008) The Satisfaction with Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology: Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice, 3, 137–152. doi:10.1080/17439760701756946
Pavot, W., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., & Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the satisfaction with life scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 149–161. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_17
Ponizovsky, Y., Dimitrova, R., Schachner, M. K., & Van de Schoot, R. (2012). The Satisfaction With Life Scale: Measurement invariance across immigrant groups. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10, 526–532. doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.707778
Population Reference Bureau (2015). Population projections. Retrieved from http://www.prb.org/DataFinder/Topic/Rankings.aspx?ind=15
Rona, S., & Lee, L. E. (2001). School success for Roma children. Step by Step Special Schools Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/romachildren_report.pdf
Runcan, P. L., & Iovu, M. B. (2013). Emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in Romanian university students: The mediating role of self-esteem and social support. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala ,40, 137–148.
Stefenel, D. (2012). Cultural models in conflict communication: a Cross-Cultural Approach among Greeks, Romanians and Romanian migrants in Greece (unpublished PhD thesis), University of Bucharest, Romania.
Stefenel, D., Răulea, C., & Stef, L. (2014). Coping mechanism in a socio - educational light: A case study in nowadays’ Romanian medical organizations. Procedia — Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 2205–2209, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.544.
Stevens, M. J., Constantinescu, P.-M., Lambru, I., Butucescu, A., Sandu, C. G., & Uscatescu, L. (2012). Romanian adaptation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Psychological and Educational Research, 20, 17–33.
The New Economics Foundation. (2012). The happy planet index: 2012. Retrieved from http://www.happyplanetindex.org/assets/happy-planet-index-report.pdf
United Nations (2013). UN data. Human Development Index. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components
UNDP/WB/EC Regional Roma survey. (2011). Data on vulnerability of Roma. Retrieved from: http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/ourwork/sustainable-development/development-planning-and-inclusive-sustainable-growth/roma-in-central-and-southeast-europe/roma-data/
Uusitalo-Malmivaara, L. (2014). Happiness decreases during early adolescence. A study on 12- and 15-year-old Finnish students. Psychology, 5, 541–555. doi:10.4236/psych.2014.56064
Van de Schoot, R., Lugtig, P., & Hox, J. (2012). A checklist for testing measurement invariance. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 486–492. doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.686740
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and data analysis for cross-cultural research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Vitterso, J., Biswas-Diener, R., & Diener, E. (2005). The divergent meanings of life satisfaction: Item response modeling of the satisfaction with life scale in Greenland and Norway. Social Indicators Research, 74, 327–348. doi:10.1007/s11205-004-4644-7
World Health Organization (2013). Mental health action plan 2013–2020. Geneva, Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/89966/1/9789241506021_eng.pdf
Zhao, X., Qu, H., & Ghiselli, R. (2011). Examining the relationship of work-family conflict to affective reaction, cognitive appraisal and life satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30, 46–54. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2010.04.010
Zubieta, E. M., & Delfino, G. I. (2010). Satisfaction with life and social well-bieng in college students. Anuario de Investigaciones Facultatad de Psicologia, 277–283.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2016 Psihologia Resurselor Umane
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal,it also allows for use of the work for non-commercial purposes and if others remix, transform or build upon the works found in this journal they must distribute the contributions under the same licence as the original.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See: The Effect of Open Access).
