Is valuing happiness associated with lower well-being? A factor-level analysis using the valuing happiness scale

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that valuing happiness is negatively associated with well-being. Most of these studies used the Valuing Happiness Scale . In the present paper, we examined the factor structure of this scale using data pooled from six independent samples (N total = 938). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Valuing Happiness Scale is not unidimensional and that only one of its three factors correlates negatively with various indicators of well-being, whereas non-significant or positive correlations were found for the other factors. These findings indicate that valuing happiness may not necessarily be bad for one's wellbeing, and call for a better definition, theoretical foundation, and operationalization of this construct.

Is valuing happiness associated with lower well-being? A factor-level analysis using the Valuing Happiness Scale

“…The total sample size was N = 938 (for demographic characteristics, see Table S1). Data and R scripts for the following analyses are available on Open Science Framework (Luhmann & Schönbrodt, 2015). …”

Motivations for Emotions in Bipolar Disorder

“…We believe such findings do not necessarily conflict with the current findings. Luhmann and colleagues (2016) demonstrated that the valuation of happiness scale captures three distinct factors. Only one of these was related to lower well-being.…”