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Subjective wellbeing in the Indian general population: a validation study of the Personal Wellbeing Index

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Abstract

Purpose

The Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) is a commonly used measure of life satisfaction that reflects a person’s level of subjective wellbeing (SWB). The present study aimed to establish the validity and reliability of the PWI in a large sample of Indian adults and describe their SWB.

Methods

2004 Indian adults completed a cross-sectional online survey, which was presented in English and included the PWI and demographic questions. The sample was split to assess the psychometric properties of the 7-item (n = 981) and 8-item (n = 937) versions of the PWI.

Results

Both the 7- and 8-item versions of the PWI demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α = .89 and .88, respectively). The global means for both versions of the PWI (7-item = 74.43, 8-item = 73.82) were within the normative range for Western countries. Achieving in life had the lowest domain scores for both the 7-item (M = 70.51) and 8-item (M = 68.37) versions; the spirituality or religion domain had the highest domain score in the 8-item version (M = 78.84).

Conclusion

The findings suggest that both the 7- and 8-item versions of the PWI are valid and reliable measures of life satisfaction for use in India. The global mean scores for both versions of the PWI were within the normative range for Western countries. In this study, Indians reported high levels of satisfaction with their spirituality or religion, suggesting this domain may be an important contributor of SWB; however, more research is needed to determine this.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the people who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia

    Erica McIntyre

  2. School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia

    Anthony Saliba & Kirsty McKenzie

  3. Graham Center for Agricultural Innovation, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia

    Anthony Saliba & Kirsty McKenzie

Authors
  1. Erica McIntyre
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  2. Anthony Saliba
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  3. Kirsty McKenzie
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Correspondence to Erica McIntyre.

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This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of Charles Sturt University research ethics committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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McIntyre, E., Saliba, A. & McKenzie, K. Subjective wellbeing in the Indian general population: a validation study of the Personal Wellbeing Index. Qual Life Res 29, 1073–1081 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-019-02375-7

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