The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB)
Well-being indicators are often conceptualized either as positive feeling (e.g. happiness), positive functioning (e.g. meaning, involvement, competence), or a combination of the two. Several measures of well-being have been developed based on this distinction, with lower-order factors (e.g. happines...
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| Format: | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English |
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2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41600/ |
| _version_ | 1848796312138416128 |
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| author | Longo, Ylenio |
| author_facet | Longo, Ylenio |
| author_sort | Longo, Ylenio |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Well-being indicators are often conceptualized either as positive feeling (e.g. happiness), positive functioning (e.g. meaning, involvement, competence), or a combination of the two. Several measures of well-being have been developed based on this distinction, with lower-order factors (e.g. happiness, meaning) loading on separate higher-order factors (e.g. positive feeling and positive functioning). However, some limitations have been identified in the lower-order factor structure of current well-being questionnaires. Furthermore, recent evidence indicates that a single higher-order or general factor adequately explains most of the variation in well-being data. This dissertation presents the development and initial validation of a questionnaire, which attempts to overcome some limitations in the lower-order structure of previous questionnaires and assumes the presence of a single general factor of well-being. Following a review of current measures, commonalities among them were identified and, based on these points of agreement, the general factor was conceptualized as a set of subjective experiences and evaluations, which are relatively stable and interpreted as symptoms of good mental health. Fourteen constructs were identified as common lower-order indicators of well-being across measures: happiness, vitality, calmness, optimism, involvement, self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-worth, competence, development, purpose, significance, self-congruence and connection. The hypothesized properties of the higher- and lower-order factors were then tested in three studies. Study 1 developed an item pool and assessed the adequacy of its content by consulting a panel of six academics with expertise in well-being research. Studies 2 and 3 recruited two adult North American samples (total N = 1,496) to assess the questionnaire’s psychometric properties, and specifically its dimensionality, reliability, measurement invariance, and relationships with external criteria. Each lower-order scale fit a unidimensional model and all fourteen scales fit a correlated-factors model as well as higher-order and bifactor models. Evidence of measurement invariance was found across gender, age and a longitudinal period of 5 weeks. Lower- and higher-order scale scores showed adequate internal and test-retest reliabilities. Finally, lower- and higher-order scale scores showed strong associations with previous measures of similar constructs and lower associations with measures of distinct constructs. The questionnaire aims to contribute to future research both as a global measure of well-being as well as a collection of fourteen individual health-related scales. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:45:59Z |
| format | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| id | nottingham-41600 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:45:59Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-416002025-02-28T13:43:23Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41600/ The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) Longo, Ylenio Well-being indicators are often conceptualized either as positive feeling (e.g. happiness), positive functioning (e.g. meaning, involvement, competence), or a combination of the two. Several measures of well-being have been developed based on this distinction, with lower-order factors (e.g. happiness, meaning) loading on separate higher-order factors (e.g. positive feeling and positive functioning). However, some limitations have been identified in the lower-order factor structure of current well-being questionnaires. Furthermore, recent evidence indicates that a single higher-order or general factor adequately explains most of the variation in well-being data. This dissertation presents the development and initial validation of a questionnaire, which attempts to overcome some limitations in the lower-order structure of previous questionnaires and assumes the presence of a single general factor of well-being. Following a review of current measures, commonalities among them were identified and, based on these points of agreement, the general factor was conceptualized as a set of subjective experiences and evaluations, which are relatively stable and interpreted as symptoms of good mental health. Fourteen constructs were identified as common lower-order indicators of well-being across measures: happiness, vitality, calmness, optimism, involvement, self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-worth, competence, development, purpose, significance, self-congruence and connection. The hypothesized properties of the higher- and lower-order factors were then tested in three studies. Study 1 developed an item pool and assessed the adequacy of its content by consulting a panel of six academics with expertise in well-being research. Studies 2 and 3 recruited two adult North American samples (total N = 1,496) to assess the questionnaire’s psychometric properties, and specifically its dimensionality, reliability, measurement invariance, and relationships with external criteria. Each lower-order scale fit a unidimensional model and all fourteen scales fit a correlated-factors model as well as higher-order and bifactor models. Evidence of measurement invariance was found across gender, age and a longitudinal period of 5 weeks. Lower- and higher-order scale scores showed adequate internal and test-retest reliabilities. Finally, lower- and higher-order scale scores showed strong associations with previous measures of similar constructs and lower associations with measures of distinct constructs. The questionnaire aims to contribute to future research both as a global measure of well-being as well as a collection of fourteen individual health-related scales. 2017-07-14 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41600/1/0_Thesis..pdf Longo, Ylenio (2017) The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB). PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Scale development Scale validation Bifactor model Higher-order model Well-being Measurement Quality of life |
| spellingShingle | Scale development Scale validation Bifactor model Higher-order model Well-being Measurement Quality of life Longo, Ylenio The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) |
| title | The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) |
| title_full | The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) |
| title_fullStr | The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) |
| title_short | The Scales of General Well-Being (SGWB) |
| title_sort | scales of general well-being (sgwb) |
| topic | Scale development Scale validation Bifactor model Higher-order model Well-being Measurement Quality of life |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41600/ |