Psychology Report Ryff Psyhological Test of Wellbeing

Psychology Report
Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales

(PWB)
[42 item version]
Name- Khushi Nayar

Course- BA English[Hons]
Roll Number- 230198
Semester- 2
Paper- Health and Well Being
Abstract
Background: Psychological well-being (PWB) is affected by age, physical health, personality,
life experiences, socioeconomic status, and culture. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to
assess the PWB of a participant. Materials and Methods: Ryff’s PWB scale, a 42-item version
used for the assessment of PWB, and data were collected by self-administering
questionnaires. Results: The scores calculated and interpreted out of 42 on each scale,
namely, autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relation with others,
purpose in life, self acceptance. Conclusion: The study illustrated that participant have low
PWB in some aspects and also suggested the need to analyse the impact that social
changes have towards young adults on PWB.
Key words: Psychological well being, Ryff’s PWB scale, score adjustment, six dimensions
Introduction
Psychological well-being (PWB) is defined as a multidimensional psychological state with
positive functioning, contentment, and absence of mental illnesses. An individual’s
perception of himself changes overtime, becoming more related to temporary differences as
he grows older and less related to interpersonal comparisons. PWB is beneficial for adults to
live a completely healthy life, and makes it an important aspect of one’s life in the younger
age groups. College life may be hectic and full of psychological stress regularly. According
to Chao (2012), among college age groups, stress has increased tremendously over the past
decade. It is, therefore, important to understand factors that impact PWB on the college
studying cohort. All these perceptions are taken into consideration for the comprehension of
PWB. Hence, the experience an individual acquires during one’s lifetime can change the
ideals to which he aspires and the way he assesses his well-being.
Aim
To assess psychological well being of the participant using Ryff’s PWB scale.
Method
Procedure
1. Reading the required instructions.
2. Filling the 42 item self administering questionnaire.
3. Items shaded grey (# 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36,
39, 41) should be reverse scored.
4. Add together the final degree of agreement in the following six dimensions
5. Calculating and interpreting final results of the participant.
Results
Participant results in the particular dimensions-

1] Autonomy- The score is 15 out of 42, which implies the participant is concerned
about the expectations and important decisions; conforms to social pressures to
think and act based on evaluations of others; relies on judgments of others.
2] Environmental mastery- The score is 16 out of 42, which implies the participant has
difficulty managing everyday affairs; feels unable to change or improve surrounding
context; is unaware of surrounding opportunities; lacks sense of control over the
external world.
3] Personal growth- The score is 35 out of 42, which is relatively higher than the
aforementioned dimensions, and it implies the participant has a feeling of continued
development; sees self as growing and expanding; is open to new experiences; has
sense of realising one’s potential; sees improvement in self and behaviour over time;
is changing in ways that reflect more self knowledge and effectiveness.
4] Positive relations with others- The score is 32 out of 42, which implies the
participant has warm, satisfying, trusting relationships with others; is concerned
about the welfare of others; capable of strong empathy, affection, and intimacy; and
understands the give and take of human relationships.
5] Purpose in life- The score is 28 out of 42, which implies the participant lacks a
sense of meaning in life; has few goals of aims, lacks sense of direction; does not
see purpose of past life; has no outlook or beliefs that give life meaning.
6] Self acceptance- The score is 18 out of 42, which implies the participant feels
dissatisfied with self; is disappointed with what has occurred in past life; is troubled
about certain personal qualities; wishes to be different than what one is.
S. No. Dimension Autonomy Environmental Personal Positive Purpose Self
mastery growth relations in life acceptance

with
others
1 Item 1 2 3 4 5 6
Score 3 2 6 6 3 3
2 Item 7 8 9 10 11 12
Score 2 2 5 5 4 3
3 Item 13 14 15 16 17 18
Score 2 5 6 2 1 1
4 Item 19 20 21 22 23 24
Score 3 2 4 6 4 4
5 Item 25 26 27 28 29 30
Score 2 2 4 6 5 2
6 Item 31 32 33 34 35 36
Score 1 2 6 1 5 1
7 Item 37 38 39 40 41 42
Score 2 1 5 6 6 4
Total 15/42 16/42 35/42 32/42 28/42 18/42

score
Discussion
Self-acceptance
High scorer: Possesses a positive attitude toward the self; acknowledges and
accepts multiple aspects of self, including good and bad qualities; feels positive
about past life.
Low scorer: Feels dissatisfied with self; is disappointed with what has occurred with
past life; is troubled about certain personal qualities; wishes to be different than what
he or she is.
Positive relations with others
High scorer: Has warm, satisfying, trusting relationships with others; is concerned
about the welfare of others; capable of strong empathy, affection, and intimacy;
understands give and take of human relationships.
Low scorer: Has few close, trusting relationships with others; finds it difficult to be
warm, open, and concerned about others; is isolated and frustrated in interpersonal
relationships; not willing to make compromises to sustain important ties with others.
Autonomy
High scorer: Is self-determining and independent; able to resist social pressures to
think and act in certain ways; regulates behavior from within; evaluates self by
personal standards.
Low scorer: Is concerned about the expectations and evaluations of others; relies on
judgments of others to make important decisions; conforms to social pressures to
think and act in certain ways.
Environmental mastery
High scorer: Has a sense of mastery and competence in managing the environment;
controls complex array of external activities; makes effective use of surrounding
opportunities; able to choose or create contexts suitable to personal needs and
values.
Low scorer: Has difficulty managing everyday affairs; feels unable to change or
improve surrounding context; is unaware of surrounding opportunities; lacks sense
of control over external world.
Purpose in life
High scorer: Has goals in life and a sense of directedness; feels there is meaning to
present and past life; holds beliefs that give life purpose; has aims and objectives for
living.
Low scorer: Lacks a sense of meaning in life; has few goals or aims, lacks sense of
direction; does not see purpose of past life; has no outlook or beliefs that give life
meaning.
Personal growth
High scorer: Has a feeling of continued development; sees self as growing and
expanding; is open to new experiences; has sense of realizing his or her potential;
sees improvement in self and behavior over time; is changing in ways that reflect
more self-knowledge and effectiveness.
Low scorer: Has a sense of personal stagnation; lacks sense of improvement or
expansion over time; feels bored and uninterested with life; feels unable to develop
new attitudes or behaviors.
Who should use this? How should it be used?

In higher education, the Ryff could be used in a multitude of settings, such as a part
of an intake and final assessment at a student counseling center. Counselors would
be able to see what impact the counseling sessions had on students’ psychological
well-being. Spiritual counselors could also use the inventory in their dialogues with
students about developing meaningful purpose in life in the journey toward finding
true “vocation.” Perhaps the most obvious place where this instrument may be used
in the higher education setting is in conjunction with a health or wellness curriculum
in residence halls, Greek-letter organizations, and first-year experience programs.
Educators could administer the Ryff before and after initiating programs to assess
their impact on students’ psychological well-being. In this way, the Ryff scales could
be used as a tool to inform what types of programs could be provided to enhance
psychological well-being.
More generally, the Ryff could be administered to a student population at the

beginning and end of the college career to measure the collective development of
well-being over time. Researchers might also consider combining data on student
demographics (e.g., socioeconomic status, ethnic background, GPA, major, etc.) with
results of the Ryff survey to examine relationships between student characteristics
and well-being.
Because of the reflective process involved in completing the Ryff, those who
administer the survey must demonstrate care and concern for the participants. It is
also important that those administering the Ryff acknowledge to respondents, prior
to administration, that completion of the instrument requires self-reflection, which
may be somewhat uncomfortable. If the results of the Ryff are shared with the
participants, I suggest taking time to either discuss the results in-depth and/or
provide on- and off-campus resources for students needing to process the
experience and what they learned from it.
Limitations
One limitation of the Ryff scales is that it relies on self-reported assessments of

psychological well-being. As with all self-report instruments, students may respond in
ways that are socially desirable rather than reveal their actual response to each
statement. Ryff suggests that in order to obtain a more complete understanding of a
respondent’s psychological well-being, observational or survey data from others who
are close to or important to the respondent is needed.
Conclusion
Despite some minor limitations (e.g., the instrument has not been explicitly tested on
traditional-age college students, low internal consistency of the short version, and
the possibility of self-presentation bias), I find the Ryff Scales of Psychological
Well-Being to be a valid and reliable measure of psychological well-being. It can aid
colleges and universities in understanding the degree to which their students are
self-accepting, are pursuing meaningful goals with a sense of purpose in life, have
established quality ties with others, are autonomous in thought and action, have the
ability to manage complex environments to suit personal needs and values, and
continue to grow and develop. Although the instrument does not measure all
dimensions of well-being, the knowledge of students’ psychological well-being can
aid institutions in developing meaningful and intentional programming to enhance
these dimensions of well-being.

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Psychology Report

Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales

Name- Khushi Nayar

5. Calculating and interpreting final results of the participant.

Participant results in the particular dimensions-

S. No. Dimension Autonomy Environmental Personal Positive Purpose Self

mastery growth relations in life acceptance

Total 15/42 16/42 35/42 32/42 28/42 18/42

Positive relations with others

Who should use this? How should it be used?

More generally, the Ryff could be administered to a student population at the

One limitation of the Ryff scales is that it relies on self-reported assessments of

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