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Psychometric Evaluation of the Malay Satisfaction With Life Scale

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Abstract

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is one of the most widely used scales for the measurement of subjective well-being across the globe, but no satisfactory version exists for use among Malay-speaking populations. The present study reports on the translation of a new Malay SWLS and examines its psychometric properties in a community sample of 816 Malay and 738 Chinese participants from Malaysia. Results showed that the Malay SWLS had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.83). Confirmatory factor analysis showed support for a unidimensional factor structure which remained invariant across sex and ethnic group. These results suggest that the Malay SWLS is a valid and reliable measure of life satisfaction for Malay-speaking samples, and extends the list of available scales for measuring subjective well-being among such groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2UW, UK

    Viren Swami

  2. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK

    Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

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  1. Viren Swami
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  2. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
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Correspondence to Viren Swami.

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Swami, V., Chamorro-Premuzic, T. Psychometric Evaluation of the Malay Satisfaction With Life Scale. Soc Indic Res 92, 25–33 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9295-7

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