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Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being

Ryff-PWB
psychologysocial scienceshealth sciencesFree for research use

Permission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no licence fee. Cite the original publication.

A multidimensional measure of eudaimonic psychological well-being across six dimensions; circulated in 18-, 42-, 54- and 84-item versions.

Items
42
Response format
7-point Likert (MIDUS II 42-item form; the original 1989 scales used 6 points)
Version
42-item version (7 items per scale, as used in MIDUS II)
Subscales
6

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Psychological well-being was measured with the 42-item version (7 items per dimension) of the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (Ryff, 1989), whose six subscales showed acceptable internal consistency (α = .70 to .84) in the MIDUS II national sample (Ryff et al., 2007).

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Reliability & validation

Source
MIDUS II; Ryff et al., 2007
Validation population
US adults in the MIDUS II national sample (Ryff et al., 2007); the original 20-item scales were developed with 321 young, middle-aged, and older adults (Ryff, 1989)
Cronbach's α
0.7–0.84

Subscales

AutonomyEnvironmental MasteryPersonal GrowthPositive Relations with OthersPurpose in LifeSelf-Acceptance

Response anchors

Strongly agree · Somewhat agree · A little agree · Neither agree nor disagree · A little disagree · Somewhat disagree · Strongly disagree

Known limitations

Multiple versions circulate (18 to 84 items) and are not directly comparable; the shortest forms show markedly lower subscale reliability, and the six-factor structure remains debated.

Original citation

Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-1081.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069

Questions researchers ask

What does the Ryff-PWB measure?

A multidimensional measure of eudaimonic psychological well-being across six dimensions; circulated in 18-, 42-, 54- and 84-item versions.

How many items does the Ryff-PWB have?

The Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (Ryff-PWB) has 42 items across 6 subscales: Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life, Self-Acceptance.

Is the Ryff-PWB free to use?

The Ryff-PWB is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.

Is the Ryff-PWB reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.7–0.84 (MIDUS II; Ryff et al., 2007). See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the Ryff-PWB, and how do I cite it?

Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-1081. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069

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Library entry verified September 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.