Background. Positive-education research often validates single instruments rather than an integrated structure spanning multiple strengths. We examined whether a coherent, multi-factor well-being structure is evident at baseline and how it relates to psychological well-being in a university sample (N = 255) from the Asia-Pacific region.


Purpose. The study aimed to identify a defensible latent structure of well-being at baseline and establish its criterion-related validity with psychological well-being.


Methods. Students completed item-level measures of gratitude, resilience, positive emotion, prosocial behavior, and psychological well-being. Internal-consistency checks and an item-level EFA guided screening; a small set of items with factor loadings below .50 were removed from the gratitude, resilience, and prosocial behavior scales. We then contrasted a four-factor CFA with a one-factor alternative and tested criterion validity with SEM, linking the well-being domains to psychological well-being.


Results. The four-factor model showed good fit (CFI = .90, RMSEA = .06) and clearly outperformed a one-factor alternative (CFI = .58, RMSEA = .13). Structural relations were directionally consistent with theory. The composite well-being predictor was positively associated with psychological well-being (β = 0.61, P < .001).


Conclusions. Identifying a single, integrated four-factor baseline structure—linking gratitude, resilience, positive emotion, and prosocial behavior to psychological well-being—advances positive-education measurement beyond siloed scales and yields a psychometrically defensible core for assessment and program targeting. This integrated frame has immediate applied value and sets the stage for future work to test measurement stability and structural change over time, as well as sensitivity to positive-education interventions.