Subjective Dimension of Mental Health: Psychometric Properties of the Ukrainian Version of Orientation to Happiness Scale

Abstract

According to Seligman’s concept of authentic happiness, people tend to choose one of three different ways to be happy: through pleasure, through engagement, and through meaning. This paper addresses the development of Ukrainian adaptation of the 18-item three-dimensional Orientation to Happiness Scale (Peterson, Park, Seligman, 2005) and the examination of its psychometric properties. On the results of PCA (N = 468) a three-factor structure due to a theoretical framework was confirmed with Cronbach’s alphas between .65 and .80. A satisfactory test-retest stability for each sub-scale in the 4-week period (N = 123) and the construct validity were revealed. During criterion-validity analysis statistically significant differences (p < .05) in orientations to happiness were shown for religious and non-religious people, reflecting the specificity of connections between happiness, faith, and religious behaviour.