Psychological Well-Being
Title
Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being
Studies
PMBC (Positive Relationships Subscale Only), PCS2, PCS3
Copyright Information
Not a copyrighted scale
Institutions or organizations interested in using the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being should send a request and description of how the instrument will be used to Dr. Carol Ryff; University of Wisconsin; Institute on Aging; 2245 Medical Sciences Center; 1300 University Avenue; Madison, WI 53706; Phone: (608) 262-1818; Fax: (608) 263-6211; email: cryff@wisc.edu. Dr. Ryff requests that institutions or organizations provide her with the results of their study and any subsequent journal article citations.
Primary Reference
Ryff, C. D., (1989). . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081.
Purpose
To assess psychological well-being as four constructs: Self-Acceptance, Positive Relationships with Others, Environmental Mastery, & Purpose in Life.
Description
Using a 6-point rating scale, participants indicate the extent to which they agree with each of several self-referent statements describing aspects of their lives relevant to each of the four measures of psychological well-being. The entire instrument (i.e., all 4 scales) was administered in PCS2 and PCS3. However, in PCS2 only, the first half and second halves of the instrument were presented separately, on Quarantine Days 0 and 1, respectively (see PCS2 Trial Outline). In PMBC, participants completed items from the Positive Relationships scale only.
Scaling
1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Moderately Disagree, 3 = Slightly Disagree, 4 = Slightly Agree, 5 = Moderately Agree, 6 = Strongly Agree
Number of Items
PCS2, PCS3: 36 items (9 * 4 Scales)
PMBC: 9 (Positive Relationships Subscale)
Sample Items
- Most people see me as loving and affectionate. (Positive Relationships)
- When I look at the story of my life, I am pleased with how things have turned out. (Self-Acceptance)
- In general, I feel I am in charge of the situation in which I live. (Environmental Mastery)
- I live life one day at a time and don’t really think about the future. (Reversed; Purpose in Life)
Psychometrics
Internal consistency in combined PCS2, PMBC, and PCS3 samples (n = 732)
- Positive relationships, Cronbach’s α = 0.76
Internal consistencies, in combined PCS2 and PCS3 samples (n = 544)
- Environmental mastery, Cronbach’s α = 0.80
- Purpose in life, Cronbach’s α = 0.78
- Self-acceptance, Cronbach’s α = 0.81
Scoring
Reversed Items: pr2, pr3, pr5, pr6, pr8, sa3, sa6, sa7, em2, em3, em5, em8, pl1, pl3, pl4, pl5, pl7, pl9- Positive Relationships: Sum Items: pr1, pr2R, pr3R, pr4, pr5R, pr6R, pr7, pr8R, pr9
- Self-Acceptance: Sum Items: sa1, sa2, sa3R, sa4, sa5, sa6R, sa7R, sa8, sa9
- Environmental Mastery: Sum Items: em1, em2R, em3R, em4, em5R, em6, em7, em8R, em9
- Purpose in Life: Sum Items: pl1R, pl2, pl3R, pl4R, pl5R, pl6, pl7R, pl8, pl9R