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Satisfaction With Life Scale:
Scoring and Interpretation
The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a five-item self-report measure of a person's global judgment of how satisfied they are with their life, scored from 5 to 35 (Diener et al., 1985). SWLS scoring adds five 1 to 7 ratings; the page then explains how to read the seven descriptive bands and the neutral point of 20, and gives syntax for SPSS and R, the original reliability findings and sample wording for the methods section.
What the SWLS Measures
The SWLS assesses the cognitive, evaluative side of subjective well-being: the overall judgment a person makes when they weigh their life against their own standards. It does not directly capture momentary mood, depressive symptoms or positive affect, which is why it is a measure of appraisal and not of feeling (Diener et al., 1985).
Its brevity and single focus explain its reach in population surveys, quality-of-life investigations, intervention studies and wider psychological research on well-being. Researchers often pair it with separate instruments for affect or depressive symptoms, so that evaluation and emotional state are not conflated (Pavot & Diener, 1993). Two slips cause most of the trouble: treating a 5-point adaptation as if it were the 7-point original, and reading the descriptive bands as thresholds.
Structure of the SWLS
- Items: five statements about life as a whole, all worded in the same direction.
- Response scale: seven levels coded 1 to 7, from strong disagreement to strong agreement.
- Subscales: none. The standard output is one global life-satisfaction score.
- Reverse-scored items: none in the original scale.
- Total: one summed score from 5 to 35.
- Recall period: none. Respondents judge life as a whole instead of a recent window.
- Versions: the original 7-point form and modified 5-point adaptations exist. Their ranges and norms differ, so record which one each participant completed.
The instrument itself is available from Ed Diener (eddiener.com).
How to Score the SWLS
- Check that swls1 to swls5 contain integers from 1 to 7. A 0-based export or a 5-point adaptation will silently distort the total.
- Sum all five responses to form swls_total, which ranges from 5 to 35. No item is reversed.
- Decide on a missing-item rule before analysis. There is no developer prorating rule, so the code below requires all five items. If your protocol allows another approach, name it in the methods section.
* Illustrative syntax: variables must already be valid item scores (1 to 7).
COMPUTE swls_total = SUM.5(swls1, swls2, swls3, swls4, swls5).
EXECUTE.# data: one row per respondent; items swls1 to swls5 coded 1 to 7.
cols <- paste0("swls", 1:5)
data$swls_total <- rowSums(data[cols], na.rm = FALSE)Interpreting SWLS Scores
| Score band | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| 5 to 9 | Extremely dissatisfied |
| 10 to 14 | Dissatisfied |
| 15 to 19 | Slightly dissatisfied |
| 20 | Neutral |
| 21 to 25 | Slightly satisfied |
| 26 to 30 | Satisfied |
| 31 to 35 | Extremely satisfied |
Source: Diener’s SWLS scoring materials (n.d.); OECD (2013).
Higher totals indicate a more favorable evaluation of life overall, and 20 is the neutral midpoint of the original five-item scale. The bands are descriptive labels useful for communication. They are not diagnostic thresholds, and they should not replace analysis of the continuous score.
Band labels and boundaries are not identical across published guides, so state which banding you applied. Do not compare 5 to 35 totals with those from 5-point adaptations as though they were on the same metric. A population’s average score and what counts as a meaningful change both depend on context.
Psychometric Properties
| Property | Published finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Internal consistency | Cronbach’s α = .87 in an initial undergraduate sample | Diener et al. (1985) |
| Test-retest | Two-month correlation r = .82 in the original validation | Diener et al. (1985) |
| Convergent validity | Correlations with other indicators of subjective well-being support construct validity | Diener et al. (1985); Pavot & Diener (1993) |
| Factor structure | Designed as a largely unidimensional measure of cognitive life satisfaction | Diener et al. (1985) |
| Clinical accuracy | No diagnostic sensitivity, specificity or psychiatric threshold is inherent to the scale | Diener (n.d.) |
These are source-specific results and cannot be assumed to hold as reliability or accuracy estimates in a new sample.
Using the SWLS in a Study
Prespecify the 5 to 35 total as a continuous outcome or predictor and report the effect with its confidence interval, since a band label cannot stand in for an estimate. Because the total sums five seven-point ratings, its treatment as a continuous variable and its distribution deserve a look, which Likert Scale Analysis addresses. For change in life satisfaction over time, a baseline-adjusted regression or a repeated-measures model is the usual starting point. When the question is whether the link between life satisfaction and an exposure differs across groups, Moderation Analysis fits that design. For several waves in which satisfaction and another construct may predict each other, Cross-Lagged Panel Models describe the temporal associations, though not causation by themselves.
Alpha from your own data, computed as described in Reliability Analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha), is the figure to report; with only five items, one weak item moves the coefficient noticeably, so a validation study should also examine the one-factor model directly and report item distributions and missingness. No single minimal important change applies to every population.
Related field: Sociology
Reporting the SWLS
Global life satisfaction was measured with the five-item Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985). Responses were scored from 1 to 7 and summed (possible range = 5 to 35), with higher totals indicating greater life satisfaction. The SWLS total was analyzed as a [continuous/categorical] variable, and internal consistency in the present sample was [α = XX].
References
Diener, E. (n.d.). Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). https://eddiener.com/satisfaction-with-life-scale-swls/
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71-75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
OECD. (2013). OECD guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264191655-en
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5(2), 164-172. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.5.2.164
Frequently Asked Questions
Should the SWLS be summed or averaged?
The conventional total is the sum, from 5 to 35. Dividing by five gives a mean on the 1 to 7 metric, which is legitimate only if it is labeled as such and used consistently across the report.
Is a SWLS score of 20 a depression cut-off?
No. Twenty is the neutral midpoint of life satisfaction, not a threshold for depression, and the scale has no diagnostic cut-off at all.
Can the SWLS serve as a continuous outcome?
Yes, provided the model suits the design and the diagnostics are reasonable. Continuous analysis keeps information that the descriptive bands discard.
Do any SWLS items need reversing?
No. The original five-item scale is keyed in one direction throughout, so every response contributes directly to the total.
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