Life satisfaction is a complex term and is sometimes used interchangeably with the emotion of happiness, but they are indeed two separate concepts. Life satisfaction is defined as one’s evaluation of life as a whole, rather than the feelings and emotions that are experienced in the moment.

1. — Main Menu —
 06JUN2015  1COMMENT
Life Satisfaction and Its 7
Contributors
Life satisfaction is a complex term and is sometimes
used interchangeably with the emotion of happiness,
but they are indeed two separate concepts. Life
satisfaction is defined as one’s evaluation of life as a
whole, rather then the feelings and emotions that are
experienced in the moment.
This article contains:
What is life satisfaction?
Contributors to life satisfaction
Measuring your life satisfaction
Can you feel more satisfied with your life?
Satisfaction with life scale
Practical advice
References
What is life satisfaction?
And how does it differ from happiness?
Happiness is an immediate, in-the-moment
experience, whereas life satisfaction is happiness that
exists when we think about our lives as a whole, looking
at the big picture.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

2. This adds a little more clarity to the difference between
the ideas of happiness and life satisfaction. It is not
based on criterion that researchers deem to be
important, but instead on your own cognitive judgments
of the elements that YOU consider to be valuable.
Based on the research ‘The Study of Life Satisfaction’,
quality of life is associated with living conditions, such
as food, health, shelter, and so on (Veenhoven, 1996).
By contrast, life satisfaction is defined as a state of
emotion, like happiness or sadness.
We can also understand the theory of life satisfaction
by using the PERMAmodel, introduced by Martin
Seligman, the founder of positive psychology
(Seligman, 2011).
In general, whatever level of satisfaction you are
feeling, you can define and maximize your level of
wellbeing if you choose which elements you want to
engage in to flourish. Also, life satisfaction tends to be
dependent on your emotional state.
According to Daniel Gilbert, professor of Psychology at
Harvard University, the meaning of happiness is
“anything we pleased” ( Gilbert, 2009). Our mood is
always changing.
Contributors to life satisfaction
The sources of life satisfaction are not completely
understood yet, but what is known, is that they are a
complex combination of,
1. collective action
2. individual behaviour,
3. simple sensory experiences
4. higher cognition
5. stable characteristics of the individual
6. the environment
7. chance factors
as Ruut Veenhoven states in his study of life
satisfaction.
Variance in satisfaction between nations has been
studied; it has been shown that living conditions are a
major determinant of life satisfaction. That is,
economically prosperous countries tend to experience
it more when compared to poorer nations.
The correlation between income and life satisfaction is
higher in poorer countries compared to more affluent
countries. Life satisfaction tends to be higher in
egalitarian countries; people will experience less
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

3. inequality and be able to choose lifestyles that best fit
their abilities and desires where equality is more
prominently displayed.
Education is an interesting point when studying life
satisfaction. As pointed-out from the variance in
satisfaction between nations resource, more highly
educated countries generally experience higher levels
of satisfaction, but with this education comes
opportunity for aversive consequences: loss of
previous opportunities that comes along with achieving
such education, job competition, or even lack of jobs.
That being said, those more educated tend to
experience more favorable events compared to
adverse events.
Variables such as mental and physical health, energy,
extroversion, and empathy have all been shown to be
strongly correlated to satisfied individuals, but it is
sometimes hard to determine whether these are
products or causes of life satisfaction.
Our past experiences undoubtedly effect the way we
think about our lives in terms of satisfaction.
Establishing a satisfying life for yourself is not decided
only by circumstances; it is also influenced by the
way you think about and relate to the environment
around you.
Measuring your life satisfaction
Beginning in the 1960’s when it became a big topic of
discussion in research, life satisfaction was originally
thought to be measured objectively and externally; the
same way measuring heart-rate or blood pressure
would be. Since then, it has become evident that life
satisfaction must be measured subjectively rather than
objectively; techniques commonly used include,
surveys, questionnaires, and interviews.
Measuring life satisfaction isn’t just a way to see how
happy people are with their lives, it’s also a way of
determining how unhappy they are. By adding another,
positive point of view stemming from the individuals
subjective experience, clinicians and researchers can
analyze what makes people happy and what makes
them unhappy.
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), created by
Ed Diener, has been one of the more applicable
measurement tests of life satisfaction. It consists of five
statements (e.g. The conditions of my life are excellent)
to which the participant indicates their agreement. This
assessment doesn’t specify explicit domains such as
financial or health satisfaction; it allows subjective
evaluation of life as a whole.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

4. Can you feel more satisfied with your
life?
Yes. If you are not as satisfied with your life as you
would like to be, you can do things to change this.
Things such as having friends, goals, and a life story
are shown to increase ones life satisfaction. You can
look more in depth at these here, along with a couple
of other ways to feel more satisfied with your life.
Relationships among the people you love can influence
how satisfied you feel with your life. For example,
studies in Western societies have shown that the mere
presence of children to married couples does not
automatically increase your life satisfaction. Rather, the
good (or bad) relationships built with these children will
alter your evaluation of it.
Satisfaction with life scale
According to the research conducted on the validity of
life satisfaction scales, one of the main measurements
is based on preferences and values of people (Diener,
Inglehart & Tay, 2013). Though we share the same
world, we can barely share the same value since we
experience things and view life differently.
To measure your own life satisfaction, you can take
Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) here. It is a short
5-item instrument designed to measure global
cognitive judgments with life. It takes just 1 minute to
complete.
Practical advice
Income and education are shown to increase life
satisfaction, but this is mainly because they are so
highly valued in the world we live in today. Build
relationships with loved ones, create achievable goals
for yourself, and put yourself in situations where you can
exercise your personal strengths and abilities; it will
help you experience greater feelings of satisfaction. If
you can do these things, you can benefit yourself and
those around you.
References
Barker, E. (2014, March 15). HowTo Be More Satisfied With
Your Life – 5 Steps Proven By Research. Retrieved May 26,
2015, from http://time.com/25208/how-to-be-more-satisfied-
with-your-life-5-steps-proven-by-research/ here
Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larson, R., & Griffin, S. (n.d.). The
Satisfaction with Life Scale. Retrieved May 27, 2015, from
http://www.unt.edu/rss/SWLS.pdf here
Diener, E. (n.d.). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Retrieved
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

5. May 27, 2015, from
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/lifesatisfactionscale.pdf here
Diener, E., & Pavot, W. (1993). Reviewof the Satisfaction
With Life Scale. Retrieved May 27, 2015, from
http://www.ksbe.edu/_assets/spi/pdfs/survey_toolkit/other_samples/pavot_diener.pdf here
Hsu, B. (n.d.). Happiness versus Life Satisfaction: What’s the
Difference? Retrieved May 28, 2015, from
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2012/10/happiness-
versus-life-satisfaction-whats-the-difference/ here
Life Satisfaction. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2015, from
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/life-satisfaction/ here
Veenhoven, R. (n.d.). The Study of Life Satisfaction.
Retrieved May 25, 2015, from
http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/Pub1990s/96d-
full.pdf here
About the Author
Chompoo occasionally works as
a motivational speaker for
educational institutions in her
country. She will be undertaking a
postgraduate study in positive
psychology to help people in
Thailand, her country.
Sharing is caring
One Comment
Gailen June 9, 2015 at 11:07 am Reply
Ilove how this is broken down into terms
that are easy and understandable. Ihave
spent years trying to grasp the’ spiritual
side of reading and changing my life.” Yet,
much alludes me, and not because Idon’t
want grasp the concepts and use them,
they just make no sense to me. The ability
to have at least some control over our lives
and our relationships and the journey is so
important.
Things said like acceptance, when change
is necessary one can accept and tolerate
many things, but when acceptance means
Related Posts
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

6. Name
Email
Website
allowing or tolerating abuse and there is no
end, then one feels sad and depressed. I
look at my life over all and Iam not
satisfied. Ihave many factors that contribute
to that.
Ilike the sepreatoion of life satisfaction
over as separate from from happiness.
Leave a Reply
*
*
Post Comment
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You
can also subscribe without commenting.
Sign me up for the newsletter
Search
Type keywords...
Book reviews (13)
Certification & Degrees (21)
Compassion (7)
Events (12)
Experts & Scientists (26)
Categories
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

7. Gratitude (9)
Happiness & SWB (18)
Mindfulness & Meditation (23)
Optimism (7)
Positive CBT (5)
Positive Education (12)
Positive Emotions (13)
Positive News (6)
Positive Psychology Articles (73)
Positive Workplace (10)
Strengths & Virtues (18)
Like us on Facebook!
Be the first of your friends to like this
Positive Psychology Program
21,688 likes
Like PageLike Page Sign UpSign Up
5 Reasons Why Positive Emotions Make
You More Sociable
24 May 2016
The Strengths Self-Efficacy Scale:
Assessing Strengths in Action
21 May 2016
Interview With Johnny: Our 5 Inborn Gifts
and Higher Self
21 May 2016
Self Determination Theory (SDT): The
Many Faces of Motivation
19 May 2016
The Resiliency Theory: Caregiver Hope
in Adversity
13 May 2016
Recent Posts
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

8. Download
These 3 Positive Psychology Exercises For Free!
Positive Psychology Exercises
Disclaimer
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Editorial Guidelines
Legal
Free PDF
Positive Psychology Internships
Positive Psychology eBooks
Positive Psychology Toolkit
Opportunities
Toolkit Login
Our Team
Sitemap
Contact
Contact
Search this Site
Type keywords...
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

9. Copyright 2016 Positive Psychology Program B.V. All
Rights Reserved.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com