Validation of the Social Well-being Scale in a Chinese Sample and Invariance Across Gender

Abstract

The goal of present study was to translate and validate the Social Well-being Scale (SWBS) with a Chinese sample, first developed by (Keyes in Social Psychology Quarterly 61(2):121–140, 1998). We examined the internal consistency, convergent validity and the measurement invariance across gender groups. A total of 630 Chinese individuals were recruited for the present study and they completed the SWBS, Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scales, and Satisfaction With Life Scale. Confirmation factor analysis demonstrated that the original five factor structure—(1) social integration, (2) social acceptance, (3) social actualization, (4) social contribution, and (5) social coherence—of social well-being previously found in Western populations were replicated in this sample. Internal consistency was high in all subscales but self-acceptance subscale and convergent validity with positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction was found. Evidence of measurement invariance across gender groups was obtained. These findings suggested that the Chinese version of SWBS would be useful for assessing social well-being in China.