From youth to elderly: A study of quality of life and psychological well-being

Pages: 1083-1086
Anagha Lavalekar and Sanhitta Karmalkar (Jnana Prabodhinis Institute of Psychology, Pune, Maharashtra)

Quality of Life (QOL) and Psychological Well-being (PWB) are dynamic constructs. Various social, cultural and environmental factors influence an individual’s experience of the quality of his life and well-being at any particular point in time. This study investigates the role of age in determining people’s QOL and PWB. So, four age groups namely 20-29, 30-39, 40-59 and 60-and above have been compared with respect to their Quality of Life (factual) and Psychological Well-being. Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale by Robert Cummins (1997) and Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-being constructed by Carol Ryff (1995) have been used. Total 330 urban participants were included in the study. One Way ANOVA was used to analyze the results. On Quality of Life (only the factual domain), significant differences were found on Material well-being, Health, Productivity, Safety and Total factual Quality of life. On Psychological Well-being, four age groups differed significantly on positive relations with others, environmental mastery, personal growth and total psychological well-being. Findings have been discussed in the light of relevant literature.