Happiness Underestimated

Authors

  • Zhou Fang St Mary’s College of Maryland, USA
  • Yue-Mei-Tong Chen University of California, San Diego, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31577/sp.2024.02.894

Keywords:

Likert scale, inconsistent, happiness, decimal system

Abstract

In this paper, an exploratory study was conducted to investigate a potential measurement bias in happiness studies using 0-10 Likert scales. A total of 121 college students from a public university in California participated in the study by completing a hypothetical subjective well-being survey. The survey consisted of 23 scenarios with varying levels of happiness or unhappiness, and the students were asked to rate their level of happiness/unhappiness on the 11-point Likert Scales. The results showed that there was an inconsistent understanding of the scale when the expected value was between 7 and 8 on the 0 to 10 Likert scale, which leads to a higher variance and lower observation values. Based on these findings, it is suggested that an alternative scale length or a -5 to 5 scale should be considered to improve data quality.

Author Biography

Yue-Mei-Tong Chen, University of California, San Diego, USA

Undergraduate Student, Department of Psychology, UCSD

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Published

2024-06-27

How to Cite

Fang, Z., & Chen, Y.-M.-T. (2024). Happiness Underestimated. Studia Psychologica, 66(2), 111–120. https://doi.org/10.31577/sp.2024.02.894

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