Volume 5, Article 23
Comparing Well-Being Constructs Between Mechanical Turk™ and Undergraduate Student Samples
Zachary J. Kunicki and Lisa L. Harlow
Citation: Kunicki, Z. J., & Harlow, L. L. (2021). Comparing Well-Being Constructs Between Mechanical Turk™ and Undergraduate Student Samples. European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 5, 23, 1-10.
https://www.nationalwellbeingservice.org/volumes/volume-5-2021/volume-5-article-23/
Processing dates: Submitted 5th May 2021; Resubmitted 29th October 2021; Accepted 3rd November 2021; Published 22nd December 2021
Abstract
Background: Mechanical Turk™ (MTurk™) is an online service through Amazon where users are paid for completing surveys or other tasks. Whereas other studies have evaluated MTurk™ for use in other areas of psychology, such as clinical samples, no known study has evaluated MTurk™ for use in well-being assessment or other aspects of positive psychology. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap in the literature.
Methods: Samples of 500 MTurk™ participants and 720 undergraduate students completed measures of satisfaction with life, purpose in life, resilience, self-esteem, proactive coping, cognitive flexibility, and social support.
Results: Results showed the MTurk™ sample was overall more heterogeneous across demographic variables than the undergraduate sample. A MANOVA found differences between the samples, Pillai’s Trace = .16, F (9, 1209) = 25.48, p < .001, partial η² = .16, with small-to-medium effect sizes for all measures. Measurement invariance tests suggest the factor loadings for items were different across the two groups.
Discussion: Whereas differences were found between the two groups on most measures, these differences were small with the exception of social support. Previous research shows MTurk™ participants tend to be lower in social support, which researchers should consider when gathering MTurk™ data.
Conclusions: These results suggest MTurk™ appears to be a viable and more diverse alternative to undergraduate student samples when studying well-being.
Keywords: Well-Being, Mechanical Turk™, Undergraduate Students, Survey Research,
Measurement
Biographies
Zachary J. Kunicki, PhD, MS, MPH is with the University of Rhode Island, Department of Psychology, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3466-7589
Lisa L. Harlow, PhD is Professor of Psychology at University of Rhode Island, Department of Psychology, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8001-4178