title: Discriminant validity of well-being measures.
abstract: The convergent and discriminant validities of well-being concepts were examined using multitrait-multimethod matrix analyses (D. T. Campbell & D. W. Fiske, 1959) on 3 sets of data. In Study 1, participants completed measures of life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, self-esteem, and optimism on 2 occasions 4 weeks apart and also obtained 3 informant ratings. In Study 2, participants completed each of the 5 measures on 2 occasions 2 years apart and collected informant reports at Time 2. In Study 3, participants completed 2 different scales for each of the 5 constructs. Analyses showed that (a) life satisfaction is discriminable from positive and negative affect, (b) positive affect is discriminable from negative affect, (c) life satisfaction is discriminable from optimism and self-esteem, and (d) optimism is separable from trait measures of negative affect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 61820, USA.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Diener
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010551:Personality; D012016:Reference Values; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception