A hierarchy of happiness? Mokken scaling analysis of the Oxford Happiness Inventory

Stewart, Mary E., Watson, Roger, Clark, Andrea, Ebmeier, Klaus P. and Deary, Ian J. (2010) A hierarchy of happiness? Mokken scaling analysis of the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, 48 7: 845-848.

Attached Files (Some files may be inaccessible until you login with your UQ eSpace credentials)
Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads

Author Stewart, Mary E.
Watson, Roger
Clark, Andrea
Ebmeier, Klaus P.
Deary, Ian J.
Title A hierarchy of happiness? Mokken scaling analysis of the Oxford Happiness Inventory
Journal name Personality and Individual Differences  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank B)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2010-05
Sub-type Article
DOI 10.1016/j.paid.2010.02.011
Volume number 48
Issue number 7
ISSN 0191-8869; 1873-3549
Start page 845
End page 848
Total pages 4
Place of publication Kidlington, Oxford, United Kingdom
Publisher Pergamon
Collection year 2011
Language eng
Subject C1
920410 Mental Health
920401 Behaviour and Health
170199 Psychology not elsewhere classified
Abstract The items of the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), a self-report assessment of happiness, are subjected to an analysis for hierarchy among its items. By using Mokken scaling analyses we can assess whether items can reliably be ordered between persons as severity indicators on a latent trait; in this case, a latent trait of Happiness. OHI item-level data from 1024 participants were entered into the Mokken Scaling Procedure (MSP) seeking reliable scales with H > 0.30. 12 OHI items formed a reliable and statistically significant hierarchy. However, the MSP values indicate a ‘weak’ scale. The ‘most difficult’ (happiest) item on the scale is ‘feeling energetic’ and the ‘least difficult’ (least happy) is ‘I have fun’. Items in the scale are consistent with what is already known about both happiness and low mood. The reduction in the OHI’s items from 29 to 12 in the Mokken scale may have utility making it more accessible to participants as well as identifying items with reliably different levels of ‘difficulty’. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
Keyword Happiness
Mokken scaliing
Oxford Happiness Inventory
Mood
Latent trait
Item Response Theory
Q-Index Code C1
Q-Index Status Confirmed Code
Institutional Status UQ

Document type: Journal Article
Sub-type: Article
Collections: Official 2011 Collection
School of Nursing and Midwifery Publications
 
Versions
Version Filter Type
Citation counts: TR Web of Science Citation Count  Cited 5 times in Thomson Reuters Web of Science Article | Citations
Scopus Citation Count Cited 5 times in Scopus Article | Citations
Google Scholar Search Google Scholar
Access Statistics: 98 Abstract Views, 2 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics
Created: Fri, 28 May 2010, 10:27:33 EST by Vicki Percival on behalf of School of Nursing and Midwifery