Psychological well-being: Gender differences in College Students and differences with General Population

The aim of this study was to analyze sex differences in Psychological Well-being among college students. Additionally, it was proposed to evaluate the difference between college students and general population. Psychological Well-being is the result of an evaluative assessment by the subject with respect to its own life. This study worked with a sample of 654 students (457 women and 197 men) of the National University of Mar del Plata. It was applied the Spanish adaptation (Diaz el at., 2006) of Ryff's Psychological Wellbeing Scale. For the analyses of sex differences t student test and Mann-Whitney's U test were carried out. The results showed that women scored significantly higher than men in the scales of Purpose in Life, Positive Relations with others and Personal Growth; and men scored significantly higher in Autonomy with regard to women. However the effect sizes of the differences were small. Regarding educational level, a difference between college students and general population was observed.