Subjective Happiness Scale
SHSA 4-item global measure of whether respondents consider themselves happy, both absolutely and relative to peers.
Ready-to-cite methods sentence
Reliability & validation
Response anchors
1 (lower-happiness anchor varies by item) · 7 (higher-happiness anchor varies by item)
Known limitations
Response anchors are item-specific, so a generic repeated anchor set should not be substituted. The scale measures global subjective happiness rather than separate affective and cognitive well-being components.
Original citation
Lyubomirsky, S., Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46(2), 137-155.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006824100041Questions researchers ask
What does the SHS measure?
A 4-item global measure of whether respondents consider themselves happy, both absolutely and relative to peers.
How many items does the SHS have?
The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) has 4 items.
Is the SHS free to use?
The SHS is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.
Is the SHS reliable?
Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.79-0.94 across validation samples, test–retest reliability of 0.55-0.90 across 3 weeks to 1 year. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.
Who developed the SHS, and how do I cite it?
Lyubomirsky, S., Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46(2), 137-155. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006824100041
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Library entry verified August 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.