Predictors of Life Satisfaction: A Nationwide Investigation in Iran

Table 1

The items used in the study.

Variable	Item	Response format
Life satisfaction	Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?	0 worst 10 best
Enjoyment	Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about enjoyment?	1 yes 2 no
Worry	Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about worry?	1 yes 2 no
Sadness	Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about sadness?	1 yes 2 no
Stress	Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about stress?	1 yes 2 no
Anger	Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about anger?	1 yes 2 no
Laughter	Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?	1 yes 2 no
Freedom	In this country, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?	1 satisfied
		2 dissatisfied
Safe at night	Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?	1 yes 2 no
Respect	Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?	1 yes 2 no
Interesting experience	Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?	1 yes 2 no
Satisfaction with city	Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the city or area where you live?	1 satisfied
		2 dissatisfied
Household income satisfaction	Which one of these phrases comes closest to your own feelings about your household’s income these days?	1 comfortable
		2 getting by; 3 difficult
		4 very difficult
Health problems	Do you have any health problems that prevent you from doing any of the things people your age normally can do?	1 yes 2 no
Social support	If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them or not?	1 yes 2 no
Satisfaction with standards of living	Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your standard of living, all the things you can buy and do?	1 satisfied
		2 dissatisfied
Corruption in business	Is corruption widespread within businesses located in Korea or not?	1 yes 2 no
Corruption in government	Is corruption widespread throughout the government in Korea or not?	1 yes 2 no
Confidence in government	In (this country), do you have confidence in each of the following or not? How about national government?	1 yes 2 no
Religion important	Is religion an important part of your daily life?	1 yes 2 no
Religious attendance	Have you attended a place of worship or religious service within the past seven days?	1 yes 2 no

Note. The household income satisfaction item was reverse-coded to represent satisfaction (rather than dissatisfaction) with household income. All items had also two other response options: “Don’t know” and “Refuse to answer.” For nonbinary items, “Don’t know” and “Refused” were considered missing. Binary variables were dummy-coded as 1 for “yes” or “satisfied” and 0 for “no,” “Dissatisfied,” “Don’t know,” and “Refused.”