The objectives of this study are to explore the reliability and factor structure of Satisfaction with Life Scales (SWLS) in measuring satisfaction with life at retirement among army veterans. SWLS is a unidimensional factor comprising five items to measure life satisfaction based on a respondent’s subjective evaluation of his own satisfaction of life that he experiences in general. The SWLS has been extensively used across many countries employing different types of samples. However, little is known on the items of SWLS for a sample of army veterans in Malaysia. In this study, the sample consists of pensionable other-ranks (Ors) army veterans (n=101) who had attended resettlement training prior to their retirement. Questionnaires were administered via mailed survey at the pilot test stage. A stratified random sampling was employed in the sample selection. The result on exploratory factor analysis indicated that only four out of five items conformed to the scale. The Satisfaction with Life Scale showed good internal consistency with an alpha value of 0.858 for its reliability. The reliability and items of SWLS scales discovered in the study indicate that SWLS is a promising reliable scale for data collection from army veterans.
Aishvarya, S., Maniam, T., Karuthan, C., Sidi, H., Jaafar, N. R. N., & Oei, T. P. S. (2014). Psychometric properties and validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in psychiatric and medical outpatients in Malaysia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 55, S101–S106. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2013.03.010
Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75.
Emerson, S. D., Guhn, M., & Gadermann, A. M. (2017). Measurement invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: reviewing three decades of research. Quality of Life Research, 26(9), 2251–2264. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1552-2
Hae-Young Kim. (2013). Statistical notes for ckinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative, Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52–54. http://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52
Jang, S., Kim, E. S., Cao, C., Allen, T. D., Cooper, C. L., Lapierre, L. M., … Woo, J. M. (2017). Measurement Invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale Across 26 Countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1–17. http://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117697844
Mastor, K. A., Jin, P., & Cooper, M. (2000). Malay Culture and Personality: A Big Five Perspective. American Behavioral Scientist, 44(1), 95–111. http://doi.org/10.1177/00027640021956116
Nunally, J.C. & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory. New York: McGrawhill.
Osborne, J. W., & Costello, A. B. (2005). Best Practices in Exploratory Factor Analysis?: Four Recommendations for Getting the Most From Your Analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 10(7), 1–9. http://doi.org/10.1.1.110.9154
Pallant, J. (2005). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for windows (Version 12). Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Pavot, William, Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5(2), 164–172. http://doi.org/10.1037//1040-3590.5.2.164
Shapiro, S.S. & Wilk, M. B. (1965). An analysis of variance test for normality. Biometrica, 52, 591–611.
Swami, V., & Chamorro-premuzic, T. (2009). Psychometric Evaluation of the Malay Satisfaction With Life Scale. Social Indicators Research, 92(1), 25–33. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9295-7
Tabachnick, B. G. & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using Multivariate Statistics (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Veterans Act 2012 (Act 740) Laws of Malaysia (2012). Malaysia.
Whisman, M. A., & Judd, C. M. (2016). A cross-national analysis of measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 28(2), 239–244. http://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000181
Wolpert, D. S. (2000). Military retirement and the transition to civilian life. In L. R. . Martin, J. A., Rosen L. N., & Sparacino (Ed.), The Military family: A Practice Guide for Human Service Providers (pp. 103–118). United States: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Zakaria, N. (2013). Kompetensi mengurus kerjaya dalam kalangan pesara tentera berpangkat rendah. Universiti Putra Malaysia.
In-Text Citation: (Ngamal, Amir, Kutty, Mastor, & Hisham, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Ngamal, A. Z. M., Amir, R., Kutty, F. M., Mastor, K. A., & Hisham, R. R. I. R. (2018). Exploratory factor Analysis on Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) with army veterans sample in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(9), 1482–1493.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
