Fear of Happiness Scale

Abstract

The Fear of Happiness Scale (FOHS) is a concise, self-report psychometric instrument designed to quantify an individual’s level of fear of happiness or aversion to positive emotional states. This construct posits that some individuals hold the cognitive belief that experiencing excessive joy or happiness will inevitably lead to negative outcomes, such as misfortune, punishment, or subsequent sadness. Developed by Mohsen Joshanloo, the FOHS is a brief measure intended primarily for use in cross-cultural psychological research, demonstrating robust psychometric properties, including acceptable validity and reliability, across numerous international groups.

Keywords

Fear of Happiness, Cherophobia, Aversion to Happiness, Positive Psychology, Cross-cultural psychology, Well-being, Psychometric scale, Joshanloo.

Authors

Mohsen Joshanloo

Purpose

The primary purpose of the FOHS is to provide researchers and clinicians with a reliable and valid tool for measuring the cognitive and affective avoidance of positive emotions. Specifically, the scale assesses the fundamental belief system—often rooted in cultural norms or personal experiences—that links happiness or profound joy with the expectation of subsequent negative consequences, such as disaster, punishment, or the onset of deep sadness.

Measuring this construct is vital because an individual’s aversion to happiness can significantly impact their motivation to pursue happiness, their engagement in rewarding activities, and their overall subjective well-being. Research utilizing the FOHS has demonstrated its utility in explaining variance in life satisfaction scores, suggesting that the fear of happiness acts as a psychological barrier to flourishing.

Construct

The FOHS measures the construct of the fear of happiness, which is defined as the belief that happiness, especially excessive happiness, should be avoided because it carries risks. This construct is conceptually distinct from general anxiety or pessimism, focusing specifically on the meta-belief that being highly cheerful or joyful invites misfortune.

This psychological construct encompasses several related cognitive components, including the belief that happiness is followed by sadness (a dialectical view often found in certain cultures), the belief that happiness makes one vulnerable, or the belief that happiness is a form of hubris that will be punished by external forces or fate. The scale is designed to capture these fundamental apprehensions efficiently through a brief, single-factor model.

Validity

The FOHS has demonstrated acceptable levels of structural and external validity across extensive international testing. The initial cross-cultural validation study, involving 14 national groups, provided strong evidence supporting the scale’s consistency and structure across diverse populations.

• Construct Validity: FOHS scores consistently correlate negatively with established measures of subjective well-being, optimism, and life satisfaction, thereby supporting the theoretical premise that a greater fear of happiness corresponds to poorer overall affective and cognitive appraisals of life.
• Cross-Cultural Validity: A crucial feature of the FOHS is its established measurement invariance. This indicates that the scale measures the same underlying construct consistently across the different cultural contexts tested, providing strong support for its generalizability in global psychological research.
• Criterion Validity: The scale has shown predictive value in understanding how beliefs about happiness influence responses to other psychological instruments, such as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).

Reliability

The internal consistency and stability of the FOHS have been consistently reported as acceptable, especially considering its brevity (5 items). In the major validation study conducted by Joshanloo and colleagues (2014), the scale demonstrated adequate internal reliability (typically measured via Cronbach’s alpha) across all participating national groups.

The consistency of these results across 15 cultures further solidifies the scale’s reliability, indicating that the FOHS provides stable and dependable measurement of the fear of happiness construct regardless of language or cultural background. This robustness makes it a highly reliable instrument for comparative international studies.

Factor Analysis

The Fear of Happiness Scale is intended and validated as a unidimensional measure. Factor analyses, particularly those conducted during the large-scale cross-cultural validation process, confirmed that all five items load significantly onto a single latent factor representing the overarching construct of aversion to happiness. This strong single-factor structure simplifies the scoring and interpretation process, confirming the scale’s internal conceptual coherence.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological questionnaire.

Format: 5 items rated on a 7-point Likert scale.

Language Available: Validated in at least 14 national groups, implying availability in numerous languages including English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and various European and Middle Eastern languages.

Population Group: General adult population; suitable for use with university students and community samples.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (typically 18 years and older).

Population Details: Validated across 15 cultures/national groups, establishing strong cross-cultural applicability and measurement invariance.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement with statements concerning the potential negative outcomes associated with high levels of joy or happiness. Scores are summed to yield a total score, with higher scores reflecting a greater fear of happiness.

Keywords

Unidimensional scale, Psychometrics, Subjective well-being, Life satisfaction, Negative affect, Avoidance motivation, Cross-cultural research.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The primary scale development was published in 2013, followed by the major cross-cultural validation in 2014. The scale is typically available for non-commercial academic research use, consistent with instruments published in peer-reviewed psychological journals. Researchers seeking permission for commercial use or distribution should contact the primary author, Mohsen Joshanloo.

Reference’s

The following key references document the development and extensive validation of the Fear of Happiness Scale:

1. Joshanloo, M., Lepshokova, Z. Kh., Panyusheva, T., Natalia, A. Poon, W.C., Yeung, V.W., Sundaram, S., Achoui, M., Asano, R., Igarashi, T., Tsukamoto, S., Rizwan, M., Khilji, I., A., Ferreira, M. C., Pang, J.S., Ho, L.S., Han, G., Bae, J., & Jiang, D. (2014). Cross-cultural validation of the fear of happiness scale across 14 national groups. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(2), 246-264. doi: 10.1177/0022022113505357
2. Joshanloo, M. (2013). The influence of fear of happiness beliefs on responses to the satisfaction with life scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(5), 647-651.

Items of the Fear of Happiness Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.