Introduction to the Satisfaction With Life Scale

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a measure of life satisfaction developed by Ed Diener and colleagues (Diener et al, 1985; Pavot & Diener, 1993). Life satisfaction is one factor in the more general construct of subjective well-being. Theory and research from fields outside of rehabilitation indicate that subjective well-being has at least three components: positive affective appraisal, negative affective appraisal, and life satisfaction (Pavot & Diener, 2008). Life satisfaction is distinguished from affective appraisal in that it is more cognitively than emotionally driven. Life satisfaction can be assessed specific to a particular domain of life (e.g., work, family) or globally––the SWLS is a global measure of life satisfaction.

The SWLS is a venerable measure of life satisfaction. It has been used in the general population of many cultures, as well as a great variety of clinical and social subpopulations. It has well-known qualities when used with people who have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI), though it has been primarily used with individuals who have required acute rehabilitation for their injuries. The only psychometric issue that has not been thoroughly explored when used in TBI is whether substantially different results would occur with omission of the last item.

In a clinical setting, the SWLS can be used to measure global satisfaction with life. Relatively higher scores would indicate that a person perceives areas of their life they consider important to be going well. Low scores would indicate the opposite. The presence of depression normally results in lower scores, but the absence of depression does not guarantee higher scores. The SWLS Total score is useful for group comparisons in research or program evaluation; for clinical purposes, it would be essential to understand what life domains are important to the individual and the basis of the evaluation made.

Information regarding the SWLS was contributed by the Ohio Regional TBI Model System at Ohio State University. Please contact John D. Corrigan, Ph.D., at for more information.

If you find the information in the COMBI useful, please mention it when citing sources of information. The information on the SWLS may be cited as:

Corrigan, J. (2013). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. The Center for Outcome Measurement in Brain Injury. http://www.tbims.org/combi/swls ( accessed ).*

*Note: This citation is for the COMBI web material. Dr. Corrigan is not the scale author for the SWLS.