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Well-being

Life Satisfaction

A 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale measuring your global judgment of how satisfied you are with your life.

Single overall measure

3 min · 5 questions

Choose Standard ($9.99), Plus ($12.99), or Personalized ($24.99) after completing the test.

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Scientifically Validated

Based on established psychological research

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Detailed Results

Comprehensive insights and recommendations

About the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)

Life satisfaction is the considered judgment you make when you step back and ask how well your life is going as a whole. It is the reflective, evaluative side of wellbeing - not how you feel in a passing moment, but how you appraise your life against your own standards for what a good life would be. This self-assessment is based on the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the most widely used measure of that global judgment.

This is a reflective self-assessment, not a clinical or diagnostic instrument. It does not detect, diagnose, or rule out any condition. Its purpose is to give you a structured, honest snapshot of how satisfied you feel with your life right now - a starting point for reflection, and, if your results concern you, for a conversation with a qualified professional.

The questionnaire has just 5 items and takes about 3 minutes. Each is a broad statement about your life overall rather than any single area, and you rate how much you agree. Your answers combine into a single life-satisfaction result, placed against general adult norms so you can see where your appraisal sits rather than a raw number in isolation.

Items
5
Duration
~3 min
Format
Seven-point agreement ratings, from strongly disagree to strongly agree
Free result
Free to take, with no account needed to start; your life-satisfaction band is in the detailed report
Full report
A detailed report interpreting your life-satisfaction band, what it reflects, and constructive directions for reflection ($9.99)

What it measures

The SWLS measures a single, unified construct: your global life satisfaction - a conscious, cognitive judgment of your life as a whole. Deliberately, it does not ask about specific domains such as health, work, or relationships, and it does not impose an external standard of what a good life should contain. Instead, it lets you weigh the areas of life by whatever importance you assign them and report the overall verdict. The five items combine into one summed result where a higher total reflects greater satisfaction.

Because it is an evaluation rather than a feeling, life satisfaction is more stable than momentary mood but still responsive to circumstances, priorities, and how you frame your life. Your score reflects your current appraisal against your own standards, not an external judgment of how good your life is. A lower score points to a gap between your life and your hopes for it that is worth reflection, and the report reads it as a snapshot rather than a fixed conclusion.

  • Life SatisfactionYour overall, considered judgment of how satisfied you are with your life as a whole, weighed against your own standards rather than any external checklist. Scored as one summed index where a higher total reflects greater satisfaction.

The science and validity

The Satisfaction with Life Scale was developed by Diener and colleagues in 1985 as a measure of the cognitive, evaluative component of subjective wellbeing - distinct from positive and negative mood. It has become the most widely used measure of life satisfaction in wellbeing research, translated into dozens of languages, and consistently shows good internal consistency, stability over time, and sensible relationships with related measures of happiness, mood, and personality.

Reviews of its psychometric properties confirm its unidimensional structure and validity across cultures and age groups. What it is not is a diagnostic test: it measures your appraisal of your own life, not the presence or absence of any condition. A low score signals a gap worth reflecting on between your life and your hopes for it - a reason to think, and if it is accompanied by distress, to seek support - not a diagnosis. Used here as an educational self-assessment, it is best treated as a mirror for reflection.

References

  1. Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71-75.
  2. Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5(2), 164-172.
  3. Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2008). The Satisfaction With Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(2), 137-152.

Read more about our standards: How our tests are built and validated.

Sample items

  • "Taken as a whole, my life is going about the way I want it to."Illustrative item in the SWLS global evaluative style (not from the scored questionnaire).
  • "Most of what I hoped my life would hold, it now holds."Illustrative life-satisfaction-style item (not a scored item).
  • "Looking back, there is little I feel I have missed out on."Illustrative life-satisfaction-style item (not a scored item).

Frequently asked questions

Is this a mental health diagnosis?

No. This is a reflective self-assessment tool, not a diagnostic instrument. It does not detect, diagnose, or rule out depression, anxiety, or any other condition - it simply summarizes how satisfied you judge yourself to be with your life as a whole. If your results concern you, or you are struggling, please talk to a qualified professional, and if you are in crisis, contact local emergency services or a crisis line.

Is this life satisfaction test free?

Yes. Taking the 5-item assessment is free, with no account required to start. Your life-satisfaction band is part of the detailed report rather than a free preview; the optional paid report interprets what your result reflects and offers constructive directions for reflection.

What does the Satisfaction with Life Scale measure?

It measures your global life satisfaction - a conscious judgment of your life as a whole - as a single overall score. It deliberately does not ask about specific areas such as health or work; instead it lets you weigh them by your own importance and report your overall verdict.

How is life satisfaction different from happiness or mood?

Life satisfaction is a considered judgment of your life as a whole against your own standards. Happiness and mood are emotional states that shift from moment to moment. They are related but distinct: you can have a good day yet judge your life overall to be falling short of your hopes, or the reverse. This test measures the evaluative side, not momentary feeling.

How accurate and validated is it?

The Satisfaction with Life Scale is the most widely used measure of life satisfaction in wellbeing research, developed in 1985 and validated across dozens of languages, with good reliability and a clear unidimensional structure. That said, any short self-report reflects your current state and mood, so treat a single result as a snapshot rather than a fixed verdict.

What should I do with a low score?

Read it as information, not a label. A low score points to a gap between your life and what you hope for that might benefit from reflection or support - it is not a diagnosis and not a measure of your worth. Satisfaction can change as circumstances and priorities change; if you are struggling or a low result persists, talking to a counselor or therapist is a sensible next step.

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Created and reviewed to professional scientific standards. See how our tests are built and validated.