The Success and Happiness Attributes Questionnaire (SHAQ)

SHAQ is a research-supported tool for assessing personal factors highly associated with happiness, low depression and anxiety, good relationships, and academic and career success.

The Success and Happiness Attributes Questionnaire (SHAQ)

Tom G. Stevens PhD
Psychologist/Professor Emeritus
California State University, Long Beach

SHAQ--The Success and Happiness Attributes Questionnaire     ==> SHAQ is COMPLETELY ANNONYMOUS (see below)

The Success and Happiness Attributes Questionnaire (SHAQ) is a Computer Assessment and Recommendation Expert System (CARES) that is based upon research results of 3,446 people. In our research SHAQ scales correlate significantly with (1) reported health, (2) lower depression, anxiety, and anger, and (3) measures of success and happiness in all life areas--including relationships, career, college, spiritual, self-development, and overall life happiness. The SHAQ scales had moderate to high positive correlations with almost all outcome measures.  SHAQ’s scales had surprisingly high multiple correlations with the emotional outcomes; with Overall Happiness, R = .87; with Low Depression R = .73,  with Low Anxiety R = .68; with Low Anger-Aggression  R = .70.(N = 1123 for all analyses.)  For Relationship Outcomes Scale R = .69; for Health Outcomes Scale R = .82; for Highest Personal Income  R = .49.  For Highest Education Completed R = .46 and for College GPA R = .40.  These are very high correlations for this type of research.

==> To view or download a layman's summary of SHAQ's research results, click here.
==> To view or download a research paper summarizing SHAQ's development and research results, click here. 
==> To view the book, You Can Choose To Be Happy: "Rise Above" Anxiety, Anger, and Depression, that is closely coordinated with SHAQ, click here. 
            [To see slides of an earlier professional paper and  earlier sample research results, go to http://www.csulb.edu/~tstevens/SHAQ.htm].

1. Find Your Happiness Quotient (HQ) Score: A Formula for Happiness, Good Relationships, Health, Success, Low Depression, Low Anxiety, and Low Depression.

Your HQ is based upon factors found to be related to your happiness in a way that is analogous to how your IQ is related to factors of the Intellect. Your HQ Score is your "happiness IQ" and is based upon our research showing an overall correlation of R = .865 between SHAQ scales and Overall Happiness. Other research results are summarized below.  Your HQ values, beliefs, and life skills may be powerful influences on your past, current, and future happiness. These HQ factors are CONTROLLABLE factors: you can choose to be happy by improving SHAQ results and recommendations to maximize your future happiness. You will receive your HQ score and more information about HQ when you complete the SHAQ questionnaire.

2. Save and Study Your SHAQ Results:  Assessment and Recommendations

Your SHAQ Results will include 1-Your HQ score; 2-All scale scores (see below); 3-All questions and all your answers; 4-Self-help recommendations and links to free Internet self-help pages on topics relevant to each SHAQ scale.  You can save and print all this information for later viewing.

SHAQ consists of many scales that can automatically assess a wide variety of personal attributes and  HQ factors (a similar term is "emotional intelligence" or "EQ" factors) that relate to success and happiness in life areas including the following:

• Self-Esteem, self-confidence, and internal control of your life
• Life Skills (self-management, emotional coping, interpersonal relationship, academic, and career-related).
• Relationships (especially marriage, family, friendships, and romantic relationships). Improve conflict resolution, interpersonal communication skills, romantic habits. Improve romance, relationship, and marital happiness.
• Overcoming fears of rejection, need for approval, and shyness; meeting people and dating skills.
• Negative Emotions (unhappiness, depression, stress and anxiety, and aggression and anger). Improve self control of emotions.
• Autonomy, assertiveness, and self-actualization.
• World view (and related positive and negative thinking). 
• Academic achievement and completion of intended degrees (factors that may affect your academic retention, grades, and overall success). Improve grades and meet academic goals.
• Career (job) interests and achievement.
• Top life values, beliefs, and goals for achievement, .
• College Major (or Minor) Interest Test option. (You may complete a special test for helping you choose a college major or minor; helps choose from a set of majors/minors offered by most large universities.)

Self-Reflection and Insights. Answering the questions is a process that can be valuable in itself.  It gives you the opportunity to look at many aspects of your values, beliefs, and life skills.  It gives you the opportunity to think about what is important to you and what aspects of yourself you would like to improve.  The automatically scored results will give you a second chance for reflecting upon yourself and will give you help links for getting additional information.
    For example, if you are a little shy and lonely and want to become more outgoing and friendly or want to improve your love life, SHAQ may detect underlying causes and lead you to direct on-line help that can help you overcome fears of rejection, build communication, assertiveness, and meeting people skills and increase your self-confidence. If want to examine your spiritual, religious, or "my philosophy of life" views, get feedback from SHAQ about your beliefs and values.

==> SHAQ is COMPLETELY ANNONYMOUS.  You do not provide any identifying information: no name, no email, no registration on this website, or any other type of information that can be traced back to you.  Optionally, you can provide a user id number that you invent and keep a record of for use if this is a class assignment, etc.

==> Click Here for SHAQ CARES Self-Assessment

=> Click Here to DOWNLOAD the SHAQ Test APP to your ANDROID PHONE, TABLET, etc.

SHAQ SCALES and SUB-TESTS

If you take the SHAQ scales required to receive an HQ score, then you will take all scales except the academic success-related scales listed below.  You may also include the academic success scales; or you may choose from a variety of other options.  When you begin SHAQ, you will be given those options.  For most users, we recommend taking at least the minimal scales required for an HQ score. 

Assess Yourself with Many Short Questionnaires. SHAQ is composed of many mini-questionnaires (scales).  Each scale checks an area important to your success and happiness.  These mini-questionnaires include:  Most of the areas SHAQ tests are listed below.

You may Save the Full Results including all SHAQ questions, scales, scores, and recommendations. After completing SHAQ CARES, you will receive your full results in a java pop-up window and an html window.  You can save those results to a file for future use. Go to Help Pages and Learn. You will receive help links to web pages that give advice and list resources for self-development and mediated coaching in your lower scoring areas. (See Help Pages below.)

==> Click Here for SHAQ CARES Self-Assessment

=> Click Here to DOWNLOAD the SHAQ Test APP to your ANDROID PHONE, TABLET, etc

3. CARES Help Pages Linked to each SHAQ Scale

These web pages will list Internet links for immediate on-line help.  Many pages will also give some direct advice and list other resources.  (Resources for CSULB students such as student services and classes will be listed as well.) You can use the help pages without taking the SHAQ CARES Assessment, but you will be missing the chance for self-discovery to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. To begin, click below.

Special Help For College Students. Your SHAQ results and associate help-links can help your college success by helping you improve motivation, learning and study skills, and writing and math skills.  They can help you clarify your identity, values, and goals and find a major that is right for you. They can help you build self-management and interpersonal skills to help you be more successful in your career and life.  If you want to improve grades or chances for career success, this is a good place to start.  

Click Here for Self-Help Internet Resources Start Page

4. Free On-line Self-Help Book and Brochures

You may obtain free on-line copies of chapters from the book,  You Can Choose To Be Happy: "Rise Above" Anxiety, Anger, and Depression by Tom G. Stevens PhD and other free online brochures on relationships, meeting people and dealing with rejection, self-esteem, emotions, learning and study skills, career decision-making, time-management, and more. 
Go to http://www.csulb.edu/~tstevens/Iselfhelp.htm.

How to Navigate Through This Website
The website is arranged in a tree structure. Each page has a series of navigation boxes at the top. Click on a topic box to go to a more specific topic. Click on "Up" to go back to the next higher level in the tree or "Home" to go to the site Home Page.  At the bottom of each page you will find other key links such as the link to the SHAQ CARES assessment.

Click Here to go to a Map/Outline of the Help Links part of the website.

Additional Notes:

1.  SHAQ Research Programs. We are interested in continued validation of SHAQ and learning more about factors that affect human health, success, and happiness. We will be preparing a journal article based upon our most recent research on SHAQ, and are also interested in cooperating with other researchers who might want to use SHAQ or any of its scales in their own research.  SHAQ is free to all users and we can even incorporate new experimental scales on our website as part of SHAQ in cooperative research projects at no charge to the researcher. 

2. For MANUAL ADMINISTRATION OF SHAQ or TO VIEW ALL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, CLICK HERE

=> For more information, click here to go to the page about using SHAQ in research.     Interested parties should contact Dr. Stevens (see below).

2. More SHAQ Information:   SHAQ Class Assignments   SHAQ Results--Info and Saving    SHAQ Problems   WelcomePage

 SHAQ research project approved by the California State University, Long Beach Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Click Here for SHAQ CARES Self-Assessment

=> Click Here to DOWNLOAD the SHAQ Test APP to your ANDROID PHONE, TABLET, etc.

Self-Help and other resources on this website (and site map)