A new subjective well-being index using anchored best-worst scaling

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Health Economics
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Subjective well-being (SWB) is crucial for individual life evaluation.
• Existing methods like rating scales and best-worst scaling (BWS) have limitations in capturing comprehensive SWB.
• A need exists for a robust measure that combines domain importance and satisfaction for absolute assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a dual-response best-worst scaling (BWS) task for measuring subjective well-being (SWB).
• To obtain an absolute measure of domain satisfaction by eliciting anchoring points.
• To combine domain satisfaction and importance for a robust and statistically unique SWB measure.

Main Methods:

• Development of a dual-response BWS task assessing importance and satisfaction across 11 SWB domains.
• Inclusion of anchoring points to derive absolute satisfaction levels for each domain.
• Survey of 2500 Australians to apply and evaluate the anchored-BWS method.

Main Results:

• The anchored-BWS method effectively discriminates between the importance and satisfaction of different SWB domains.
• A significant discrepancy was identified between the importance and satisfaction related to health.
• Subjective well-being was found to be significantly lower among Indigenous Australians, the unemployed, middle-aged males, and lower-income groups.

Conclusions:

• Anchored-BWS offers a valuable diagnostic tool for SWB measurement, enabling targeted policy and service development.
• The method provides a robust and unique measure of individual SWB, distinct from existing approaches.
• Findings highlight specific demographic groups and life domains requiring focused interventions to improve overall well-being.