Replication and Validation of the Happiness-Increasing Strategies Scale in a German-speaking sample

Autor(en)

Leopold Roth, Celine Bencker, Amelie Scherz, Anton-Rupert Laireiter

Abstrakt

Introduction: Given that happiness is a meaningful variable for health, social relationships, and other important aspects of human experience, it is crucial to understand the pathways through
which happiness is pursued. The Happiness Increasing Strategies Scales (H-ISS) developed by Tkach and Lyubomirksy (2006) represents a first attempt to quantify and examine strategies to
pursue happiness. However, it lacks replication and validation in other populations.

Method: The present study aimed to replicate the structure of the H-ISS and to validate it in a German-speaking sample. For this purpose, 332 participants completed the H-ISS and assessments for subjective happiness, personality, and satisfaction with life. The data analysis mostly followed the original procedure by Tkach and Lyubomirsky (2006), including examination
of gender-differences in strategy use, intercorrelations of strategies, reliabilities, and correlations with BIG-5 personality dimensions. Further, the original regression models predicting subjective happiness were resembled.

Results: Many of the original effects could be replicated in directionality and magnitude. Yet, explanatory power of the regressions models was lower (R2 = .53; R2006 = .62) and the predictor
structure differed meaningfully.

Conclusion: The partial replication provides evidence for stable general effects as well as differences in the German-speaking sample. Overall, H-ISS appears as a useful tool for predicting
subjective happiness as well as satisfaction with life. Yet, the instrument holds potential for optimization and culturally sensitive adaptation. Limitations and evident differences to the original publication are discussed.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Arbeits-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialpsychologie, Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie

Journal

European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology

Band

7

Seiten

1-14

Anzahl der Seiten

14

ISSN

2397-7116

Publikationsdatum

03-2023

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

501032 Emotionspsychologie

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/fc7c9343-9f77-475a-9ee5-1a74a0b3e9be