Verifying the Invariance of a Measurement Model for Flourishing in Life Among Adults of Various Ages

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to validate the flourishing-in-life scale proposed by Po-Lin Chen and Min-Ning Yu. To this end, the equivalences between factor loadings and differences in the scale’s results for various stages of adulthood were examined. Data were collected from a sample of 1,023 adults between the ages of 21 and 65. The sample data were used in confirmatory factor and cross-validation analyses to assess the factor structure of the scale. The findings are summarized as follows. (1) The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that flourishing life was based on five latent factors: “benevolence blessing - positive emotions,” “playfulness blessing - engagement,” “harmony blessing - identify meaning,” “respectful blessing - competent requirements,” and “optimism blessing - optimistic attitude.” (2) The cross-validation analysis with split-half samples verified that the scale was a wellconstructed and stable model; the factor structure was a good fit for the empirical data and was invariant across grade levels. (3) A U-type distribution was observed in the flourishing-in-life results. Specifically, adults in later adulthood were associated with higher average grades than individuals in other stages of adulthood in the categories of “flourishing in life,” “benevolence blessing - positive emotions,” and “playfulness blessing - engagement.” This paper concludes by proposing several suggestions for future studies.

本研究目的旨在檢驗陳柏霖與余民寧於2017年所編製的圓滿人生量表，評估量表之測量恆等性及其在不同成年期之差異。研究採問卷調查法，共計有1,023位21～65歲的成人參與，所蒐集的資料用來進行驗證性因素分析、交叉驗證分析。研究發現：一、根據驗證性因素分析，圓滿人生為「仁福－正向情緒」、「玩福－全心投入」、「和福－意義認同」、「敬福－勝任要求」及「樂福－樂天知命」等五個因素所組成的二階因素結構。二、交叉驗證分析下通過測量恆等性之檢驗，顯示該量表具有跨樣本的有效性及穩定性。三、圓滿人生隨著年齡的變化呈U型分布，成年晚期轉換期在「圓滿人生」、「仁福－正向情緒」、「玩福－全心投入」高於其他成年期的成人。最後，本研究提出相關建議以供未來研究參考。