Structural stability of well-being factors across age and gender, and development of scales of well-being unbiased for age and gender.

Well-being, life satisfaction, morale, or affect valence is often used as an outcome in studies of adult life. Many instruments are available, and choice among them is difficult. There is need for information regarding the structure underlying what they measure and, in view of rising interest in adult-span models and investigations, for instruments that are unbiased with respect to age. Analysis of the items in several instruments showed four factors that seem to define the dimensions underlying these measures and that are constant across age (25 and older) and gender. Reliable scales developed on the basis of the factors provide measures that are, for all practical purposes, unbiased with respect to age and gender. Both factors and scales were cross-validated with a second sample.