Evaluating employees’ positive functioning at work: Adaptation and validation of the PERMA+4 scales in the Italian context

As positive psychology continues to gain prominence in organizational contexts, scholars are calling for more cross-cultural investigations into how well-being frameworks translate across different cultural contexts. This study validated both the brief and extended versions of the PERMA+4 Positive Functioning at Work Scale in the Italian context using a sample of 673 employed participants. The PERMA+4 framework extends the original PERMA model, which includes positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, by adding four additional dimensions: physical health, mindset, environment and economic security. The scales demonstrated robust psychometric properties with excellent overall reliability. For the extended version, confirmatory factor analysis supported both the presence of a nine-factor correlated structure and a Positive Functioning at Work general factor, with the bifactor model showing the best fit. For the brief version, item response theory analyses indicated good item functioning, while confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the expected one-factor structure. Measurement invariance was tested and established for both versions across a broad range of sociodemographic variables. The study highlights that the two versions of the scale present high convergence and a consistent nomological pattern. Both scales demonstrated strong convergent validity through high correlations with work engagement, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and burnout, and showed comparable associations with work performance outcomes. Moreover, the four additional PERMA+4 dimensions demonstrated incremental validity beyond the original PERMA ones. The Italian validation further supports PERMA+4’s cross-cultural applicability while revealing culturally specific patterns. This research provides both Italian organizations and academics with a comprehensive, evidence-based tool for assessing workplace well-being that moves beyond deficit-focused approaches toward positive functioning assessment.