Structural equation models for prediction of subjective well-being: Modeling negative affect as a separate outcome
Journal Title: The Journal of Happiness and Well-Being - Year 2014, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
Diener’s recommendation that researchers assess well-being by combining scores on Satisfaction with Life (SWLS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) has been nearly universally adopted. Latent variables that represent subjective well-being (SWB) in structural equation models often include SWLS, PA and NA as multiple indicators. However, Diener and his colleagues have also pointed out that PA and NA have different predictors. In order to compare structural models in which NA is combined with other indicators of well-being with models in which NA is treated as a separate outcome, we collected data on SWB, neuroticism, extraversion, and global social support for college students (N = 847). Structural Equation Model 1, in which NA was one of several indicators of SWB, was compared with three other models that represented NA as a separate outcome. Better model fit was obtained when NA was represented as a separate outcome variable, rather than as one of several indicators of SWB. This type of model also yields more information about the different predictors for positive and negative components of well-being. In future research, data analysts may consider representing NA and other negative emotional outcomes as separate dependent variables, instead of treating them as (reverse scored) indicators of SWB.
Authors and Affiliations
Rebecca M. Warner| University of New Hampshire Department of Psychology, New Hampshire, USA. E-mail: rebecca.warner@unh.edu, Danney Rasco| University of New Hampshire Department of Psychology, New Hampshire, USA. E-mail: rebecca.warner@unh.edu
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP15917
- DOI -
- Views 491
- Downloads 23
Influence of internet usage on social and subjective well-being of Sri Lankan GLIS
The majority of the inventors in developing countries is independent inventors work on inventions by their own interest. The Internet has been one of the leading knowledge repositories for these independent inventors t...
Relationship between patience as a character strength and psychological wellbeing
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between patience and psychological well-being. Selected by random sampling, participants were 1007 individuals (427 males, 580 females) who were between the age...
Meaning making in rural Appalachia: Age and gender patterns in seven measures of meaning
People derive meaning in life from a wide variety of sources, but little is known about how patterns of meaning making vary across individuals. The current study examined age and gender patterns in seven measures of me...
Psychometric properties of a newly established flow state questionnaire
In the last decades several measuring methods have been established for studying flow experience. The starting point for the establishment of the Flow State Questionnaire (PPL-FSQ: Flow State Questionnaire of the Posit...
Advocating a pedagogy of happiness in TESOL: Antecedents and potentialities
Among the many topics discussed in positive psychology and life skills education, happiness enjoys a distinctive stature. In practical terms, an essential hallmark of the positive psychology movement would reasonably be...