Analysis of factorial invariance across gender in the Taiwan version of the satisfaction with life scale

The purpose of this study was to examine factorial invariance of the 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale-Taiwan version (SWLS) across gender among university students in Taiwan. A total of 476 undergraduate students (males = 207 and females = 269) at National Taiwan University completed the Taiwan version of the SWLS. Prior to any invariance analysis, one-factor and two-factor models (present and past factors) were applied to each group. The confirmatory factor analysis results revealed that both the one-factor model and the two-factor model were acceptable for each group. However, since the “present” and “past” factors were highly correlated in both groups (>0.90), the one-factor model was accepted upon consideration of the principle of parsimony. Further, based on the one-factor model, results from multi-sample analysis revealed that the Taiwan version of the SWLS has the property of strict factorial invariance across gender, including invariance of factor loadings, unique variances and factor variance.