Dr Manju Antil (Counselling Psychologist and Psychotherapist)

A five-item scale intended to calculate worldwide cognitive conclusions of self’s life satisfaction. The individuals who participated in the research tend to show how much they consented or opposed each of the five items by using a seven-point scale that ranges from highly satisfied to extremely dissatisfied.

SCORE RANGE INTERPRETATION

30-35 Highly Satisfied

25-29 Satisfied

20-24 Neutral

15-19 Slightly Dissatisfy

10-14 Dissatisfied

5-9 Extremely Dissatisfied

30-35 Highly Satisfied

Individuals who score between 30 -35 are highly satisfied in their life. They live their life happily and feels that everything is going well in their life. They love to live in the present. This kind of person accepts every reality they see or they feel. Even they tried their best to find perfection in imperfect things or they keep trying to make them perfect. They acknowledge their limitations and flaws. Maximum peoples who score in this range are enjoyable and their major domains of life for example School, family, job, and friends all are going well.

25-29 Satisfied

Peoples scoring in the range of 25-29 like their lives and feel that all is well. Obviously, their lives are not perfect but still, they believe that things are going good. Moreover, just because the individual is satisfied, it doesn’t mean that he is contented. Actually, development and dispute might be part of the reason the individual is pleased. Peoples in this range accept challenges and let them down with optimistic beliefs. They are flexible; tolerant and do not lose hope very easily if sadness strikes in their life.

20-24 Neutral

A neutral person is that who did not take part in any heated discussion and does not support any party during the conflict. The people scoring in this range (20-24) are usually contented, but in some areas they require improvement. They often avoid fear-provoking situations, as they are not interested in becoming part of the conflict.

15-19 Slightly Dissatisfy

Individuals scoring in this range (15-19) have little, but significant problems in many domains of life, or doing well in all areas but one area creates a substantial problem for them. If an individual has momentarily moved into this level of life satisfaction from a superior level due to some unpleasant event, matters generally get better over occasion and contentment will normally come back. On the other side, if an individual is persistent to some extent displeased with many areas of life by expecting too much, temporary dissatisfaction is common and normal. A number of people got motivation from a minor level of dissatisfaction, however habitual dissatisfaction among a number of life domains is distractive and gritty as well.

10-14 Dissatisfied

Individuals scoring in this range (10-14) were significantly dissatisfied with their lives. A variety of areas in the life of these individuals is not going well or one or two areas are going very badly. Life dissatisfaction is a reply to current occurrences such as demise, marriage break up, and momentous problems at the job, the individual will probably come back over time to his former level of higher satisfaction. An individual with low life satisfaction in this range is sometimes not functioning well because they are distracted in almost each and every domain of life. While talking to a close friend, psychotherapist, or another professional can continually assist the person to get moving in the right direction to bring positive changes in their person. Individuals who significantly scored in this range did not have the ability to cope with the disturbance or distress, efficiently. Instead of dealing with the problem and attaining a conclusion, the disputes that life throws on these individuals pulverize them and leave them with emotional scars.

5 – 9 Extremely Dissatisfied

Persons scoring in this range (5-9) are awfully discontented with their current life. They prefer to stay in their comfort zone and surround themselves with things and people that make them feel comfortable. Monotony becomes the order of the day, and despite believing that staying in their comfort zone is best for them, this only serves to increase their feeling of insecurity in the world. These people are often in denial about their true circumstances in life. They use a series of defence mechanisms to prevent them from having to face various issues in their life. Unhappy people do not take responsibility for their own lives. Instead, they prefer to blame other people or general circumstances for their woes. They find it very difficult to accept that the situation they are in is due to their own choices that they have made in the past. This links in with the first point about denial using a negative filter is a cognitive distortion whereby everything in life is viewed in a negative way. They find it impossible to see the positives in life. Again, this may be a defence mechanism associated with a core belief that if they expect the worst, they will never be disappointed. The problem with this attitude is that if you expect the worst, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more negative you are, the more you notice all the bad things in the world. This can lead to resentment and bitterness.

Reliability of SWLS:

The data from six studies was presented by Pavot and Diener in 1993. The coefficient alpha of Satisfaction with life scales is between 0.79 to 0.89 which clearly shows that this scale has sky-scraping internal inconsistency. In the recent time, Adler and Fagley in 2005 and Steger, Fraizer, Oishi and Kaler in 2006 confirmed that the co-efficient alpha of satisfaction with life scale is 0.87 and .86