The current study examined measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) across three immigrant groups, namely, immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel, Turkish-Bulgarians, and Turkish-Germans. The results demonstrate measurement invariance of the SWLS across groups. The findings that Turkish-Bulgarian and FSU immigrants in Israel scored significantly lower on the SWLS compared to Turkish-Germans can be explained by assimilative policies in Israel and Bulgaria. In conclusion, our results suggest the SWLS is feasible for cross-cultural comparisons of immigrants of various age groups. Future investigation of measurement invariance over time is needed to use the SWLS in a developmental perspective.

Ponizovsky, Y., Dimitrova, R., Schachner, M. K., & Van de Schoot, R. (2013). The Satisfaction With Life Scale: Measurement invariance across immigrant groups. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10(4), 526-532. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.707778

The current paper was written as part of a writing week organized by the young researchers of the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP). We gratefully thank the EADP for the funding to make this research possible. The first author was also supported by a scholarship from the Harry and Sylvia Hoffman leadership and responsibility program. Data collection in Germany was funded by the Proexzellenz Program of the Free State of Thuringia, as part of a scholarship at the Graduate School for Human Behaviour in Social and Economic Change (GSBC) at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Leonard Vanbrabant, Utrecht University, for assistance with the statistical analysis, and Suzannah Ravenscroft, Utrecht University, for proof reading the manuscript.