The German Version of the PERMA-Profiler: Evidence for Construct and Convergent Validity of the PERMA Theory of Well-Being in German Speaking Countries

Abstract

With the PERMA theory, Seligman (2011) postulates that well-being consists of five independently measurable factors: Positive Emotions (P), Engagement (E), Positive Relationships (R), Meaning (M) and Accomplishment (A). The PERMA-Profiler provides the first questionnaire, which measures all five well-being domains in an economical and reliable way. In order to test the validity of the questionnaire in German speaking countries, a German version of the PERMA-Profiler was developed and evaluated in a large sample ( N = 854). The results provide evidence for acceptable reliability, very good construct validity (factorial and convergent) and first indications for measurement invariance, for both gender and nationality. Compared to three theoretically competing models, the inter-correlated Five-Factor Model turned out to be the most appropriate statistical model to describe the collected data. It revealed the best trade-off between model fit, parsimony and theoretical interpretability. Our results support the hypothesis of a multidimensional PERMA theory, which gives a closer insight in at least some of the building blocks of well-being. Therefore, the PERMA theory can be seen as a useful extension to a unidimensional subjective well-being approach. Like the English original, the German version of the PERMA-Profiler allows to measure well-being economically across multiple well-being domains. Therefore, the PERMA-Profiler can be recommended as a valid well-being screening instrument for the German speaking adult population.