Editorial

Abstract

When researchers study subjective wellbeing they implicitly make assumptions of universality. In order to embed their research within the current literature, they often ignore the fact, that the reports they cite for this purpose, have employed samples heterogeneous on such variables as culture, age, and wealth, all of which are known to exert powerful influences on subjective wellbeing in their own right. Researchers also often ignore the fact that the scales they employ have no demonstrated validity, reliability or sensitivity for the specific populations being sampled for their study. And, often, they have little direct evidence that the construct of subjective wellbeing, as described in the literature, is shared by their research participants.