Table 1.

Constructs, features, items and thresholds used to calculate optimal wellbeing

Construct and features	Item (Likert scale; anchors)	Threshold
Positive emotion (required)
• Happiness	Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are? 0–10; extremely unhappy-extremely happy	≥ 8
Positive characteristics (4 of 5 required)
• Emotional stability	In the past week, I felt calm and peaceful 1–4; none or almost none of the time-all or almost all of the time	≥ 2
• Vitality	During the past week, you had a lot of energy? 1–4; none or almost none of the time-all or almost all	≥ 3
• Optimism	I am always optimistic about my future 1–5; strongly disagree-strongly agree	≥ 4
• Resilience	When things go wrong in my life it generally takes me a long time to get back to normal 1–5; strongly disagree-strongly agree; reverse score	≥ 4
• Self-esteem	In general, I feel very positive about myself 1–5; strongly disagree-strongly agree	≥ 4
Positive functioning (3 of 4 required)
• Engagement	To what extent do you learn new things in your life? 0–6; not at all-a great deal	≥ 5
• Competence	Most days I feel a sense of accomplishment from what I do 1–5; strongly disagree-strongly agree	≥ 4
• Meaning	I generally feel that what I do in my life is valuable and worthwhile 1–5; strongly disagree-strongly agree	≥ 4
• Positive relationships	To what extent do you receive help and support from people you are close to when you need it? 0–6; not at all-completely	≥ 4

To be classified as meeting the criteria for optimal wellbeing individuals must (1) meet the threshold for positive emotion; (2) meet the threshold for four out of five features of positive characteristics; and (3) meet the threshold for three out of four features of positive functioning