Report on the Construct Validity of the Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale

This study evaluated the factorial and convergent validity of theTemporal Satisfaction With Life Scale (TSWLS; Pavot, Diener andSuh, 1998), which was designed to measure past, present, andfuture life satisfaction. A sample of psychology undergraduates(N = 223) was administered a questionnaire containing the TSWLSand a global measure of past, present, and future subjectivewell-being (SWB), the Self-Anchoring Striving Scale (SASS;Kilpatrick and Cantril, 1960). Results of covariance structureanalyses supported a 3-factor model (past, present, and futurelife satisfaction as distinct, yet correlated, factors) for theTSWLS, demonstrated that item responding was only slightlycontaminated by an acquiescence bias, and showed that each of thepast, present, and future dimensions of the TSWLS was moststrongly related to its corresponding global SWB rating on theSASS. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.