Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ)

Abstract

The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) is a concise, 29-item self-report instrument developed by Hills and Argyle (2002) for the measurement of global subjective happiness, often conceptualized as psychological well-being. Designed as a psychometrically refined successor to the original Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), the OHQ aims to provide a reliable and efficient tool for use in large-scale academic research and psychological assessment. The scale uses a 6-point Likert response format, allowing respondents to indicate their level of agreement with various statements related to positive affect, life satisfaction, and self-esteem. It also features an 8-item short scale derived from the most reliable components of the full measure.

Keywords

Happiness, Subjective Well-being, Positive Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Quality of Life, Measurement Scale, Oxford Happiness Inventory, OHQ, Life Satisfaction.

Authors

P. Hills, M. Argyle.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the OHQ is to provide a standardized, psychometrically robust, and compact tool for quantifying subjective levels of happiness and psychological well-being. The scale was created to address limitations in previous measures, particularly regarding length and the multidimensional nature of happiness. By streamlining the assessment process, the OHQ enables researchers to efficiently quantify the affective and cognitive components of well-being across diverse populations.

The development of the OHQ emphasized achieving high levels of internal consistency and concurrent validity while minimizing administration time, making it particularly valuable in large studies where minimizing participant burden is critical. It serves as a core measure in positive psychology research investigating factors that promote or inhibit flourishing.

Construct

The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire measures the complex, multidimensional construct of subjective well-being (SWB), which is often equated with happiness in the context of this scale. Hills and Argyle conceptualized happiness not merely as the absence of negative states, but as a state encompassing multiple positive dimensions. These dimensions are reflected in the scale items and include:

• Positive Affect and Mood: Experiences of joy, elation, and general cheerfulness.
• Life Satisfaction: Cognitive evaluations of satisfaction with life domains and overall accomplishments.
• Self-Esteem and Control: Feelings of confidence, attractiveness, and having a sense of meaning or purpose in life.
• Social Engagement: Warm feelings toward others and the ability to have a cheerful effect on social interactions.

Validity

The OHQ demonstrates strong evidence of construct validity across various studies. Initial validation confirmed high concurrent validity, with scores correlating strongly (typically above 0.80) with the original Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), confirming that the OHQ measures the intended construct effectively. Furthermore, the scale exhibits expected convergent validity by showing significant positive correlations with other established measures of life satisfaction and positive affect.

The instrument also maintains strong discriminant validity, showing appropriate negative correlations with measures of negative emotional states, such as scales assessing depression (e.g., the Beck Depression Inventory) and anxiety. This pattern of correlations confirms that the OHQ is measuring a distinct positive psychological state rather than simply the inverse of psychological distress.

Reliability

The reliability of the OHQ is consistently reported as excellent. The internal consistency, measured using Cronbach’s Alpha, typically falls within the range of 0.87 to 0.92 for the full 29-item scale when administered to general adult populations. This high level of internal consistency indicates that the items within the scale measure a highly cohesive, single underlying construct.

Furthermore, the 8-item short scale, derived from the full instrument, also maintains high psychometric properties, often reporting Cronbach’s Alpha values above 0.80. This demonstrates that both the full and short versions are highly reliable tools for the assessment of psychological well-being.

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis conducted during the scale’s development indicated that the OHQ primarily measures a single, dominant factor corresponding to Global Happiness or Subjective Well-being. Although happiness is a multifaceted concept, the high inter-item correlations supported the calculation of a single overall score, suggesting a robust unidimensional structure for practical application.

The subsequent selection of the 8 items for the short scale (OHQ-8) was based on those items that demonstrated the highest factor loadings onto this primary happiness factor, ensuring that the shortened version retained maximal predictive power and construct representation while significantly reducing administration time.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire.

Format: 29 items (Full Scale) or 8 items (Short Scale). Responses are collected using a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree).

Language Available: English (original), widely translated and validated in numerous other languages globally.

Population Group: General population, including students and adults.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (typically 16 years and older).

Population Details: Used extensively in non-clinical research settings, educational psychology, and studies focusing on positive psychological traits.

Test Methodology: The total score is typically calculated by summing the scores of all 29 items after appropriately reversing the scores for the reverse-coded items. Higher scores indicate greater levels of subjective happiness or psychological well-being. The reverse-coded items are 1, 3, 12, 13, 16, 18, 21, and 29.

Keywords

Subjective Well-being, OHQ, Psychological Well-being, Life Satisfaction, Affective State, Psychometrics, Self-report, Reliability, Validity.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Information not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Information not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Information not provided in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) was first published in 2002. It is generally recognized as a non-proprietary scale intended for use in non-commercial academic research, although users should always verify the most current licensing and permission requirements with the authors or the journal publisher (Elsevier). The original article detailing the scale’s development is available via PDF download.

The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.louisianaparadox.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Hills-Argyle-2002.pdf

Reference’s

Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33(7), 1071–1082.

Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. In: Simmons C. A., Lehmann P. (eds). Tools for strengths-based assessment and evaluation, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 68-71. (2013). Google Scholar

Items of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ)

Response Scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = moderately disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = slightly agree, 5 = moderately agree, 6 = strongly agree

NOTE: Items 1, 3, 12, 13, 16, 18, 21, and 29 are reverse coded. * Indicates components of the OHQ short scale.

1. I don’t feel particularly pleased with the way I am. *
2. I am intensely interested in other people.
3. I feel that life is very rewarding. *
4. I have very warm feelings toward almost everyone.
5. I rarely wake up feeling rested.
6. I am not particularly optimistic about the future.
7. I find most things amusing.
8. I am always committed and involved.
9. Life is good.
10. I do not think that the world is a good place.
11. I laugh a lot.
12. I am well satisfied about everything in my life. *
13. I don’t think I look attractive. *
14. There is a gap between what I would like to do and what I have done.
15. I am very happy.
16. I find beauty in some things. *
17. I always have a cheerful effect on others.
18. I can fi t in (find time for) everything I want to. *
19. I feel that I am not especially in control of my life.
20. I feel able to take anything on.
21. I feel fully mentally alert. *
22. I often experience joy and elation.
23. I don’t find it easy to make decisions.
24. I don’t have a particular sense of meaning and purpose in my life.
25. I feel I have a great deal of energy.
26. I usually have a good influence on events.
27. I do not have fun with other people.
28. I do not feel particularly healthy.
29. I do not have particularly happy memories of the past. *