Validation of a scale to measure happiness: a confirmatory factor analysis with multicultural university students

Abstract

Happiness is an affective state of full satisfaction subjectively experienced by the individual in the position of a desired good, however, defining happiness, valuing it, measuring it or quantifying it is complicated. Therefore, this paper presents the validation of a scale to measure happiness. It has been administered to 237 university students from the Miskito and Mayangnas indigenous peoples, Creole (Afro-descendant) and mestizo of the communities of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast. The results show good settings and psychometric properties. The realization of a model of structural equations has evaluated the concurrence and relationship of two dimensions related to the phenomenon of happiness, finding the association between satisfaction and joy of living; likewise, the relevance of the positive sense sub-scale of life. These results show the suitability of both sub-scales to jointly assess happiness, given their important relationship and similarity, which make them good tools for psychoeducational interventions in multicultural contexts.