The Thai Subjective Happiness Scale: A Tool for Assessing Well-Being

Abstract

Most psychological research has been conducted in Western countries; however, the value of psychological research conducted in diverse contexts has been gaining increasing recognition. One concrete step toward conducting such research in diverse contexts is the translation of well-established psychometric tools into additional languages. To this end, the authors of this study have translated the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), a well-established questionnaire for assessing happiness, from English into Thai. While the SHS has been translated into many languages, no Thai version has yet been published. The SHS has been used widely by researchers in the positive psychology movement; thus, SHS results can be understood in the context of numerous prior studies. This article presents the history of the SHS. It then establishes the need for a Thai-language SHS and presents a Thai SHS that has been translated, back-translated, and piloted. A total of 482 respondents completed the Thai SHS; the results are presented and discussed. The creation of the Thai SHS provides a tool for researchers aiming to conduct psychological research in Thailand.