Abstract
Well-being is very important topic in many scientific fields and disciplines, and interest in its study has been growing significantly in recent decades. This is understandable, since level of well-being of individuals affects other areas of their lives (e.g. family life, health, job satisfaction), all of which are generally related to the functioning of any society.
Finding out the level of well-being of people in a country is desirable and necessary, as these measurements can serve as a basis for various policy interventions. However, measuring well-being correctly and appropriately is very problematic because there is no clear consensus among researchers on how to properly define well-being, which in turn leads to problems in its measurement.
The main problem is how to measure subjective well-being - whether through a single question or as part of a multi-item battery, as a multidimensional concept - to be valid, reliable, and primarily comparable? Both methods are used in the European Social Survey (ESS). The measurement with one simple question on happiness or life satisfaction has been repeated in each round since 2002, the measurement from a multidimensional perspective was included in Rounds 3 and 6.
Specifically, in the Round 6 was firstly introduced a new theoretical model for measuring subjective well-being as a multidimensional concept. This model consists of 35 items divided into six dimensions of well-being (evaluative well-being, emotional well-being, functioning, vitality, community well-being, supportive relationships).
In my presentation, I will primarily focus on testing this multidimensional model from ESS 6. First, I will verify that the model is conceptually correct, fits the data, and measures validly, reliably, and especially comparably.
The results showed that the model is not appropriate. The next step is therefore the modification of the model, which was carried out in several steps, resulting in the final model named the "overall model of well-being".
This model is composed of 22 items divided into five dimensions (relationships, engagement, vitality, meaning and purpose, emotions). The main part of my presentation will be devoted to testing invariance of the final model through MGCFA and alignment method and comparing their results.