Happiness Measures (HM)

Abstract

The Happiness Measures (HM), developed by M. W. Fordyce, is a brief, two-part self-report instrument designed to quickly assess an individual’s level of Subjective Well-being (SWB) and overall happiness. It strategically combines a single 11-point global rating of general emotional state with a percentage estimation of time spent experiencing happy, unhappy, or neutral feelings.

Recognized for its efficiency and direct approach, the HM provides a straightforward method for quantifying emotional states and is often cited as a valuable, quick index for both happiness assessment and general mental health research.

Keywords

Happiness, Subjective Well-being, Fordyce, Emotional State, Self-report, Mental Health, Affective Assessment, Quality of Life.

Authors

M. W. Fordyce

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Happiness Measures (HM) is to provide a rapid, yet comprehensive, dual assessment of an individual’s typical affective experience. It was developed to capture both the intensity (Part I) and the frequency (Part II) of perceived happiness, offering a more nuanced score than typical single-item scales.

The instrument is designed to serve as an efficient screening tool for assessing general mental health status and Subjective Well-being (SWB) in large-scale studies. Fordyce emphasized its utility as a sixty-second index, minimizing respondent burden while yielding a composite score highly correlated with deeper measures of life satisfaction.

Construct

The HM measures the Psychological Construct of Subjective Well-being (SWB), with a primary focus on the affective component—the balance of positive and negative emotions experienced over a typical period. It operationalizes happiness through two distinct yet complementary dimensions.

Part I addresses the global, cognitive assessment of the individual’s usual level of happiness, capturing the intensity of their average emotional state. Part II measures the temporal frequency by asking respondents to estimate the percentage of time they spend feeling happy, unhappy, and neutral. The final combined score integrates both the intensity and the frequency aspects of the subjective emotional experience.

Validity

Research conducted by Fordyce (1988) and subsequent studies have indicated strong concurrent and convergent validity for the Happiness Measures. The instrument’s scores consistently demonstrate significant positive correlations with other established measures of global life satisfaction and well-being, such as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).

Furthermore, the HM exhibits excellent discriminant validity, showing expected negative correlations with indices of psychological distress, including measures of depression and anxiety. This pattern confirms the scale’s ability to accurately differentiate between high subjective happiness and poor mental health outcomes, supporting its utility as a robust measure of affective adjustment.

Reliability

Due to the dual-component nature of the HM, traditional measures of internal consistency (like Cronbach’s Alpha) are not strictly applicable across the entire instrument. However, studies focusing on the stability of the measure have confirmed acceptable test-retest reliability over short intervals, indicating that the assessment of general happiness, as captured by the HM, is relatively stable over time.

The reliability of the single-item rating (Part I) is often assessed separately and found to be robust for a quick measure, while the integration of the temporal component (Part II) is designed to stabilize and enhance the overall consistency of the final composite score.

Factor Analysis

Given that the Happiness Measures is designed as a composite measure consisting of two primary components (a global rating scale and a set of three percentage estimations), traditional Factor Analysis is not typically conducted to establish dimensionality. The instrument is conceptually defined as a single-factor measure aimed at assessing overall subjective well-being.

The combination score formula specifically integrates the two parts—intensity (Part I) and frequency (Part II)—to yield a unified index of Subjective Well-being, rather than separating distinct factors of happiness.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Questionnaire; Affective Assessment

Format: Two-part assessment combining a single 11-point rating scale (Part I) and a 100% distribution estimation (Part II).

Language Available: English (Original). Used frequently in translation for international research.

Population Group: General population; suitable for psychological and sociological research.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (typically 16+).

Population Details: Utilized across diverse non-clinical and clinical populations to gauge baseline subjective well-being.

Test Methodology: Brief administration, often referred to as a “sixty-second index.” Scoring involves the calculation of a composite score: combination score = [scale score (Part I) * 10 + happy % (Part II)] / 2.

Keywords

Well-being index, Affective state, Intensity and frequency, Life satisfaction, Fordyce, Quick assessment, Mental Health.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original research detailing the use and validation of the Happiness Measures was published by Fordyce in 1988, following earlier developmental work. The scale is frequently used in academic settings and is generally considered freely available for research purposes, although specific permissions for commercial use should be verified.

Test Year: 1983 (Instrument dating) / 1988 (Key publication)

Reference’s

• Fordyce, M. W. (1988). A review of research on The Happiness Measures: A sixty second index of happiness and mental health. Social Indicators Research, 20(4), 355-381.

The original PDF detailing the instrument and scoring methodology can be downloaded here: http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_bib/freetexts/fordyce_mw_1983.pdf

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Items of the Happiness Measures (HM)

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

Part I

IN GENERAL‚ HOW HAPPY OR UNHAPPY DO YOU USUALLY FEEL?

• 10. Extremely happy (feeling ecstatic‚ joyous‚ fantastic!)
• 9. Very happy (feeling really good‚ elated!)
• 8. Pretty happy (spirits high‚ feeling good.)
• 7. Mildly happy (feeling fairly good and somewhat cheerful.)
• 6. Slightly happy (just a bit above neutral.)
• 5. Neutral (not particularly happy or unhappy.)
• 4. Slightly unhappy (just a bit below neutral.)
• 3. Mildly unhappy (just a little low.)
• 2. Pretty unhappy (somewhat “blue‚” spirits down.)
• 1. Very unhappy (depressed‚ spirits very low.)
• 0. Extremely unhappy (utterly depressed‚ completely down.)

Part II

DIRECTIONS: Consider your emotions a moment further. On the average‚ what percent of the time do you feel happy? What percent of the time do you feel unhappy? What percent of the time do you feel neutral (neither happy nor unhappy)? Write down your best estimates‚ as well as you can‚ in the spaces below. Make sure the three figures add up to equal 100%.

ON THE AVERAGE:

• The percent of the time I feel happy ____  %
• The percent of the time I feel unhappy     ____ %
• The percent of the time I feel neutral ____ %

TOTAL: _____ 100 %

(0) ‘extremely unhappy’‚ to (5) ‘neutral’‚ to (10) ‘extremely happy’

combination score = [scale score * 10 + happy%]/2.