OBJECTIVES:

Scales measuring well-being used to be categorized into subjective and psychological well-being scales. Few studies previously verified the relationships between the two types of scales. This study attempted to explore the relationships among seven widely used well-being scales, including the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Positive and Negative Scale (PANAS), Flourishing Scale (FS), the short version of Psychological Well-being Scale (PWBS), the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire short-form (OHQ-SF), and the WHOQOL-BREF. We examined the gender and grade effects on these scales too.

METHODS:

One hundred ninety-seven university students participated in this study. We examined the internal consistency of these scales by using Cronbach's alpha. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between these scales. Student t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to examine these scales’ gender and grade effects.

RESULTS:

All scales/subscales showed acceptable reliability (Cronbach's alpha > 0.7). We found a two-factor structure on the seven scales. SWLS, Negative feelings of PANAS, WHO-5, OHQ-SF, and four domains of WHOQOL-BREF loaded on Factor 1. Positive feelings of PANAS, FS, and all subscales of PWBS loaded on Factor 2. The two factors can be named subjective and psychological well-being, respectively. Females reported higher scores than males on two subscales of PWBS (positive relations [14.43 vs. 12.83, p<.001] and personal growth [15.51 vs. 14.77, p=.04]). We found grade effects only on the self-acceptance subscale of PWBS (F(3,193) =2.84, p=.039).

CONCLUSIONS:

All scales/subscales have good reliability. The two-factor model suggests these scales measured two types of well-being. Females reported higher scores on positive relations and personal growth, showing that females tend to have better social relationships and personal development. In addition, we found grade effects on self-acceptance, suggesting that students fluctuated in satisfaction with themselves during their university years.