Development of the Work-Related Well-Being Questionnaire Based on Seligman’s PERMA Model

Drawing on recent research on determinants of subjective well-being, we developed and conducted a pilot study of an employee well-being questionnaire using M. Seligman’s (2011) multidimensional PERMA model ( P ositive emotion, E ngagement, positive Relationships, M eaning, and A ccomplishment) model. Employees (N = 397) from postgraduate courses at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) completed a survey including 56 items which were theoretically relevant to the PERMA theory. Factor analyses recovered the expected five PERMA components and a negative emotion factor. Based on factor and reliability analyses, we reduced the 56 PERMA items to 35 items.  Our results support the multidimensional approach to defining and measuring multidimensional well-being. A multidimensional well-being assessment may be useful for understanding employees’ well-being, which can then be applied when developing policy and practice to increase well-being for all employees at work.