Psychological Wellbeing
The researcher Carol Ryff thought that wellbeing could be made sense of by breaking it down into a number of areas or components. She identified the following areas as contributing to people's experience of wellbeing.For each area we invite you to consider:
"What does this mean day to day?"
"How much am I 'doing' it in my life, today?"
"How could I increase that tomorrow?"
Self-Acceptance
This means having a positive attitude toward your self, acknowledging and accepting multiple aspects of self, feeling positive about your past life. It means being able to say; "when I look at the story of my life, I am pleased with how things have turned out so far.
Ask yourself:
"When I look at how I handled today, am I able to say, 'I did my best with that. I feel OK about how I went'".
Personal Growth
This means having feelings of continued development and potential and being open to new experiences, feeling increasingly knowledgeable and effective. It means being able to say, "for me, life has been a continuous process of learning, changing, and growth."
Ask yourself:
"How did I learn and change today? What was I open to?"
Purpose in Life
This means having goals and a sense of direction in life, feeling that both present and past experiences are meaningful, holding beliefs that give purpose to life. It means being able to say, "some people wander aimlessly through life, I am not one of them."
Ask yourself:
"What goal did I set myself and achieve today?"
Environmental Mastery
This means feeling competent and able to manage a complex environment; choosing or creating personally suitable contexts. It means being able to say, "I am good at managing the responsibilities of daily life."
Ask yourself:
"How did I manage the practicalities of getting through today. What did I do well in there?"
Autonomy
This means being self-determining, independent, and regulating your behavior internally; resisting social pressures to think and act in certain ways, evaluating yourself by personal standards. It means being able to say; "I have confidence in my own opinions, even if they are different from the way most other people think."
Ask yourself:
"What did I do or say today that expressed my opinion or belief?"
Positive Relations With Others
This means having warm, satisfying, trusting relationships, being concerned about others' welfare, being capable of strong empathy, affection, and intimacy, understanding give-and-take of human relationships. It means being able to say, "People would describe me as a giving person, willing to share my time with others."
Ask yourself:
"What gesture did I make today toward another person, that showed my ability to care?"
Adapted from CD "Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being" (1989).