Abstract The orientations to happiness scale (OTH) was designed to measure three
routes to happiness: pleasure (hedonia), meaning (eudaimonia) and engagement (flow).
Past research utilising the scale suggests that all orientations predict life satisfaction, with
meaning and engagement the stronger predictors relative to pleasure. However, these
findings are inconsistent with other research; one plausible explanation being that the OTH
scale lacks validity. This was tested by having participants (N = 107) complete the OTH
scale and the Satisfaction with Life scale, prior to completing an online diary reporting
actual instances of hedonic and eudaimonic behaviour. Although meaning predicted eudaimonic
behaviour, the pleasure orientation was unrelated to hedonic behaviour. Further,
hedonic behaviour was more strongly related to life satisfaction than eudaimonic behaviour;
inconsistent with OTH scale results. These findings challenge the validity of the OTH
scale, and subsequently bring into question those conclusions drawn from past research
utilising the OTH scale.