Models of wellbeing (Diener, 1984; Ryff, 1989): WACE Year 12 Psychology Unit 4
“Models of wellbeing: subjective wellbeing, the model of subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984) with the key components life satisfaction and affective balance; psychological wellbeing, the six factor model of wellbeing (Ryff, 1989): autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, self-acceptance”
Subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984) is a person's own evaluation of their life, made up of life satisfaction (a thinking judgement of how well life is going) and affective balance (experiencing more positive than negative emotions). Psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1989) is about functioning well and fulfilling potential, and has six factors: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life and self-acceptance.
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What this dot point is asking
The syllabus names two models. You should be able to describe the components of each, apply them to a person, and compare the two approaches.
Subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984)
Ed Diener defined subjective wellbeing as how people evaluate their own lives. It has two key components:
- Life satisfaction: a cognitive judgement of how satisfied you are with your life as a whole, or with areas of it such as work, relationships and health.
- Affective balance: the emotional side; high wellbeing means frequent positive emotions (joy, contentment) and relatively infrequent negative emotions (anxiety, sadness).
Because it is subjective, it is measured by asking people, for example with questionnaires such as the Satisfaction With Life Scale and ratings of how often they feel positive and negative emotions.
Psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1989)
Carol Ryff argued that wellbeing is more than feeling good: it is functioning well and realising your potential. Her six factor model includes:
| Factor | High wellbeing looks like |
|---|---|
| Autonomy | Making your own decisions and resisting social pressure; judging yourself by your own standards |
| Environmental mastery | Managing everyday responsibilities and shaping your surroundings to suit your needs |
| Personal growth | Seeing yourself as developing, open to new experiences and realising your potential |
| Positive relations with others | Warm, trusting, caring relationships |
| Purpose in life | Having goals and a sense of direction and meaning |
| Self-acceptance | A positive attitude towards yourself, accepting both good and bad qualities |
Diener's model is about feeling good and being satisfied (often called hedonic wellbeing). Ryff's model is about functioning well, meaning and growth (often called eudaimonic wellbeing).
Comparing the models
| Subjective wellbeing (Diener, 1984) | Psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1989) | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | How satisfied and happy people feel | How well people function and grow |
| Components | Two: life satisfaction and affective balance | Six factors |
| Measurement | Self-report of satisfaction and emotions | Self-report scales for each factor |
| Strength | Simple; respects each person's own judgement | Broad; captures meaning, relationships and growth |
| Limitation | Mood on the day can affect ratings; happiness is not the whole of wellbeing | More complex; the factors overlap and are harder to measure |
Links to the rest of Unit 4
Wellbeing connects the unit together: meeting the needs in self-determination theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness) and Maslow's hierarchy supports wellbeing, while chronic stress and sleep deprivation lower it.
A Year 12 student in Term 3
Ben says he is "pretty happy with life overall" but has felt anxious most days during exams. He has close friends, set himself a goal of studying engineering, and is proud of how he has improved in maths.
- Diener: his life satisfaction is high, but his affective balance is currently less favourable because anxiety is frequent.
- Ryff: positive relations with others (close friends), purpose in life (goal of engineering), personal growth (improvement in maths) and self-acceptance (pride in his progress) are all strong.
Conclusion: Ben's psychological wellbeing is high even though his subjective wellbeing is temporarily lowered by exam anxiety.
Marker's note: use the model's own terms and link each one to evidence in the scenario.
- Adding extra components to Diener's model
- The syllabus names two key components: life satisfaction and affective balance.
- Confusing autonomy and environmental mastery
- Autonomy is independence in thinking and decisions; environmental mastery is managing daily life and surroundings.
- Mixing up the dates and names
- Diener (1984) is subjective wellbeing; Ryff (1989) is psychological wellbeing.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of SCSA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
Original6 marksCompare Diener's (1984) model of subjective wellbeing with Ryff's (1989) six factor model of psychological wellbeing.Show worked answer →
Two marks for each model described and two marks for the comparison.
- Diener (1984)
- Subjective wellbeing is a person's own evaluation of their life. It has a cognitive component, life satisfaction (how satisfied a person judges their life to be overall), and an affective component, affective balance (experiencing more positive than negative emotions).
- Ryff (1989)
- Psychological wellbeing is functioning well and fulfilling one's potential. It has six factors: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life and self-acceptance.
- Comparison
- Both are measured mainly through self-report and see wellbeing as more than the absence of illness. Diener focuses on feeling good and being satisfied (a hedonic view), with two components; Ryff focuses on functioning well, meaning and growth (a eudaimonic view), with six factors. A person could be satisfied and happy but score low on purpose or growth.
Original6 marksLeila recently moved out of home, manages her own budget, is studying to become a nurse because she wants to help people, and has two close friends she confides in. Identify and explain three of Ryff's six factors shown in her life.Show worked answer →
Two marks for each factor identified and linked to the scenario (any three).
- Environmental mastery
- Managing her own budget and living independently show she can manage her daily life and surroundings.
- Purpose in life
- Studying nursing because she wants to help people shows goals and a sense of direction.
- Positive relations with others
- Having close, trusting friends she confides in shows warm, supportive relationships.
- Autonomy
- Moving out and making her own decisions shows independence and self-direction.
- Personal growth
- Studying for a new career shows she is developing and realising her potential.
Practise this
Sources & how we know this
- Psychology ATAR course Year 12 syllabus (effective from 1 January 2024) — School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA)
- Psychology ATAR course: syllabus and support materials — SCSA
- Past ATAR course examinations — SCSA