Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction is your overall judgment of how your life is going. In psychology, it is a cognitive evaluation of your life as a whole, which means a considered view rather than a passing mood. Psychologists treat it as the thinking, judging part of subjective wellbeing.

By Team TherapyRoute

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What is life satisfaction?

Life satisfaction is how you judge your life, taken as a whole. It is subjective and personal. What satisfies one person may not satisfy another, because the judgment comes from your own values, hopes, and expectations.

In short:

• Overall, not piecemeal: it rates your life as a whole, not one area of it.
• A judgment, not a feeling: it is a considered view rather than a mood.
• On your own terms: it follows your own values, not an outside standard.

Life satisfaction in psychology: the thinking part of wellbeing

Psychologists study life satisfaction as one component of subjective wellbeing. Subjective wellbeing has two parts: how you think about your life, and how you feel from day to day.

Life satisfaction is the thinking part, the cognitive evaluation of your life as a whole,² while your balance of positive and negative emotion is the feeling part.² This is why life satisfaction stays steadier than mood.

Life satisfaction, happiness and personal satisfaction

These words overlap in everyday speech. In psychology they are not the same.

Term	What it points to
Life satisfaction	Your considered judgment of your life as a whole
Happiness	The pleasant feelings you have, moment to moment
Personal satisfaction	An everyday, looser sense of being content

Happiness belongs to the feeling part of wellbeing, and life satisfaction to the thinking part. Measures of life satisfaction are kept separate from measures of positive feeling.¹

Personal satisfaction is a casual term, not a defined measure. Life satisfaction is one part of the wider idea of psychological wellbeing.

What shapes life satisfaction

Life satisfaction comes partly from specific areas of life. Researchers call this a bottom-up account: you judge separate areas first, and those judgments then contribute to your view of the whole.

Conditions such as your relationships, health, and work each contribute to the overall judgment.² Common areas include:

• Relationships: the quality of family, friendships, and close bonds.
• Health: how well your body and mind support daily life.
• Work: whether your work feels steady, useful, and fair.
• Finances: having enough to meet your needs with some security.

The overall judgment is not a simple sum of the parts. Life satisfaction ratings are often higher than the separate areas would predict,² and cultural ideals about a good life influence that tendency to rate the whole positively.² So two people with similar lives may still judge them differently.

How life satisfaction is measured: the Satisfaction With Life Scale

Psychologists measure life satisfaction with short self-report scales: questionnaires you fill in about yourself. The best known is the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Diener and colleagues developed it in 1985. It measures global life satisfaction, your life as a whole.¹

It does not measure positive feeling or loneliness,¹ and it is deliberately global rather than area by area.¹

Studies report that it is reliable and consistent over time,¹ and its scores match other wellbeing measures moderately to highly.¹ It also suits people across different age groups.¹

A score describes one moment. It is not a verdict on your worth. It cannot diagnose a condition on its own, and some clinicians use such scales alongside a fuller conversation.

Can life satisfaction change, and can counselling help?

Life satisfaction is not fixed. It can rise or fall as your circumstances and outlook change. For many people, low satisfaction is an ordinary human signal that something is not right yet.

In clinical practice, some people have the things usually counted as success and still feel a lasting dissatisfaction. That deserves to be taken seriously, not dismissed.

A persistent, strong dissatisfaction can occur together with low mood. When it does, it deserves care rather than self-blame. In talking therapy you can examine what is missing, and consider your values, losses, and hopes.

Research links higher life satisfaction with better perceived health.² This is an association, not a promise or a cure.

If low satisfaction lasts and affects your daily life, consider reaching out. You can find a registered therapist through our international directory.

Common questions

Is life satisfaction the same as happiness?
No. Happiness is mainly a pleasant feeling, while life satisfaction is a considered judgment of your life as a whole. The two are related, but they are measured separately.

What is personal satisfaction?
It is an everyday term, not a formal measure. It usually means feeling content with something you have done. Life satisfaction is the wider judgment that researchers study.

Can I measure my own life satisfaction?
You can reflect honestly on your life as a whole. Brief scales such as the Satisfaction With Life Scale exist. A score describes one moment, not a diagnosis.

Is low life satisfaction a mental illness?
No, not on its own. Low satisfaction is a common human experience, and when it lasts and brings low mood, support can help. Change is possible, and reaching out is a fair first step.

Related terms

• Psychological Wellbeing: the broader idea that life satisfaction is part of.
• Happiness: the feeling part that life satisfaction is often confused with.
• Quality of Life: objective and subjective measures of how life is going.

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This information is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional counselling or mental health care. For persistent concerns about your wellbeing, please consider help from a qualified professional.

This article is for general information and is not a substitute for professional assessment or care. If this is affecting your life, consider reaching out to a qualified mental health professional.

References

1. [1] Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71-75. doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
2. [2] Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Tay, L. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of Well-Being. DEF Publishers.