How Happy Are You? Why Should You Know and How You Can Tell

Imagine enrolling in a physical fitness class and, like all the other students, you have promptly begun the daily exercises as instructed by the coach. However, you have no idea how much you currently weigh in pounds or kilograms—prompting the reasonable question: What is your target body weight?

Knowing how much you currently weigh and having a preferred target weight in mind is necessary for your determination, resilience, and perseverance to evolve and matter—as you seek physical fitness.

Similarly, imagine that you are pursuing happiness—striving day and night to become happier but have no idea how happy you currently are. A very reasonable question is: When and how will you know you are “happier” and, “happier than what” would that be?

Just like in the pursuit of physical fitness, common sense strongly suggests that before starting any new endeavor, you should self-assess to know where you currently are and where you’d like to be. Thus, pre-testing and re-testing for happiness is a must since no one can effectively improve on anything without a way to measure, quantify, and verify progress.

The Edo Questionnaire, our tool for measuring happiness—aka the PISA Scale—is now available for happiness seekers, happiness advocates, coaches, researchers, human resource directors, and wellness officers to use (Obayuwana, 2024).

The Edo Questionnaire

The Edo Questionnaire (or PISA Scale) is a 12-item self-assessment tool for measuring happiness. It can differentiate and identify happy, unhappy, very happy, languishing, or flourishing individuals in any given cohort. It is a perfect tool for rating happiness for whatever purpose or reason—when and wherever accurate measurement of happiness is desired. It is particularly suitable for testing and re-testing when monitoring progress or confirming improvements. It is short and precise, easy to administer and score, with no issues whatsoever about social desirability bias.

Its unit of measure is PHI (or Personal Happiness Index)—which ranges from 0.125 on the languishing end of the scale to 8.0 on the flourishing end of the scale. The questionnaire has good internal consistency with an alpha value of 0.88. The content validity ratio is 0.85—with five SMEs used in calculating the CVR. Test-retest reliability is 0.95

Why Know Your PHI?

PHI is a true measure of your well-being—objectively determined and subjectively verifiable. It is much like weighing yourself, determining your height, or taking your own blood pressure, and temperature—objectively performed by yourself, using the right tool.

For all adults, whether a peasant or a millionaire, rural or urban, and regardless of age, gender, language, culture, geography, annual income, or national GDP, the PHI is a valid way to tell objectively when you are “happier” and also, how much “happier than what”. The following case report is very illustrative.

The Case Report of AJ

AJ was a forty-three-year-old female who was the assistant principal of a middle school. She attended one of my presentations and subsequently privately requested one-on-one happiness coaching services from me.

During stage two of our one-on-one happiness coaching sessions, her PHI was calculated to be 0.932, which is in the “unhappy” zone. At stage four of our coaching sessions, a customized PDR (or personal daily routine) that was unique to her circumstances was designed and given to her for actualization. AJ was to return after six weeks of performing and actualizing her PDR. Instead of six weeks, she showed up three months later with copious apologies for her tardiness. When she was re-tested, she had a PHI of 2.314—a very impressive progress. She moved from the “unhappy” Zone C straight to “very happy” Zone A—bypassing the “happy” Zone B.

That was an unusual progress but much welcome. As I was quietly marveling about what an effective happiness coach I had become, AJ smiled broadly and said she had some good news to share: “I have been promoted to the rank of a full principal, and guess what? I also have a wedding engagement” as she flashed a diamond ring on her finger. At that moment, I realized why she had taken three months instead of six weeks to return for stage five of our client-coach relationship. I also realized that her impressive rise in PHI might have very little to do with my coaching efficacy.

Although it remains questionable how consequential I truly was, as a coach, in AJ’s progress; the Edo Questionnaire very accurately captured her progress. Without the use of the Edo Questionnaire, there was no way to objectively and accurately quantify the progress she made.

For Whom Is the Edo Questionnaire?

Without exceptions, we all want to be happier and there is a myriad of happiness-promoting methods and exercises recommended to us—but without any proven tool to objectively verify progress.

Therefore, the Edo Questionnaire is recommended for use by happiness seekers, happiness coaches, research psychologists, chief happiness officers, directors of human services (or resources), happiness advocates, and those policymakers, who are directly or indirectly involved in the “business” of happiness.