Validity and Reliability of the Authentic Happiness Scale

Abstract

Studies on the concept of happiness have led to questions about whether all symptoms of happiness correspond to a real and healthy emotional state. Therefore, in this research, a scale was developed to examine the concept of "authentic happiness" coined by Seligman. Firstly, literature that explains authentic happiness and defines its relationship to other psychological concepts was reviewed, and then a theoretical framework was developed based on this information and the psychometric characteristics of the scale were introduced. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the fit indices were compatible with two-dimensional structure. These two dimensions have been entitled as "Authentic Happiness" and "Fluctuating Happiness". Based on the findings of the present study, the Authentic Happiness Scale (AHS) is a reliable and valid scale to determine the authentic happiness levels of university students.