Development of Male Well-Being Indicators In Malaysia from Intrapersonal Communication Perspective: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Abstract

Well-being is an essential concept in a human’s life as it is an emotional state that significantly influences our lifestyle. This study aims to develop a Malaysian male well-being indicator using the intrapersonal communication perspective. In this study, a self assessment instrument was constructed based on the self-concept theory in order to understand the respondent's well-being. This study applied mixed-methodology. Qualitative approach was used to build the well-being dimension and indicator based on some previous studies, while the quantitative approach was done to determine which construct is considered valid to measure male well-being, and how reliable those constructs are. Data collection phase was run through an online cross-sectional survey by using Survey Monkey platform. A total of 290 respondents consisting of Malaysian men aged 18 years and above participated in this study. The EFA results showed that there were 33 items classified under six well-being main components with having an effective and excellent level of consistency effectiveness, where Cronbach's Alpha for these six components gives a value of more than .70. This study, in overall, found that the well-being indicator was represented by one item on self-assessment that measures well-being dimension. Through the findings obtained, this study is expected to open a wider space for the upcoming studies on male well-being in Malaysia. However, it is suggested that this study needs to be continued with confirmatory factor analysis to validate this well-being indicator as a valid instrument to measure male well-being in Malaysia. Keywords: Well-being, subjective well-being, intrapersonal communication, self-concept theory, self assessment.

Confirmation of male well-being indicators in Malaysia

“…MSV and ASV values that are smaller than AVE indicate good discriminant validity of the construct. The results shown in Fig 5 illustrate that the final modification model consists of 24 items that retained all six dimensions of the original measurement model by Ajis et al [21]. For the self-confidence dimension, the model retained only four out of eight items.…”

“…The purpose of this study was to test and confirm the Ajis et al [21] 33-item male well-being instrument and propose a set of items to measure male well-being in the Malaysian context. The 33-item male well-being instrument was designed to measure the multiple aspects of male well-being in the Malaysian context, represented by self-assessment of well-being dimensions, namely self-confidence, physical health, autonomy and agency, economic stability, family/close relationship adaptation, and living environment adaptation.…”

“…Secondly, the original study [21] formed indicators of male well-being based on elements of self-concept theory, which may have limited the scope of its definition of the well-being concept. Triangulation of the findings through qualitative interviews would allow respondents to provide more specific details and potential areas of improvement to the instrument.…”

“…Respondents answered the questions by indicating their level of agreement with each statement. The 33-item male well-being model was formed through exploratory factor analysis and obtained a very good level of internal consistency where the Cronbach’s alpha of all well-being dimensions were at values above .70 [21], meeting the level of reliability suggested by Bond and Fox (25). The dimensions and items that make up the construct of personal well-being (Fig 1) are self-confidence (8 items); family/close relationships adaptation (8 items); physical health (3 items); living environment adaptation (5 items); autonomy and agency (4 items); and economic stability (5 items) and will be referred to hereafter as the original measurement model in this study.…”

“…The Ajis et al [21] male well-being instrument was adapted to obtain respondent assessment of personal well-being. The questionnaire contained 33 items measuring personal well-being on a seven-point bipolar scale (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree).…”