Gender Differences In Health Habits And Psychological Well- Being Among Early Adults

Gender Differences In Health Habits And Psychological Well- Being Among Early Adults

The concept of health is both complex and important. Health and its importance is one of the universally recognized concepts. The aim of the study was to explore the gender differences among early adults with regard to their health habits and their psychological well-being. Total sample consisted of 100 participants of whom 50 were men and 50 were women. The sampling technique used was random sampling. The age range was 18 -25 years. Health promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP), developed by Walker, Sechrist & Pender (1982). It includes both health-protecting (preventive) behaviors that decrease risk for illness and health-promoting behaviors that sustain or increase well-being, self-actualization and personal fulfillment. Health Behavior checklist was developed by the researcher to understand the patterns of health behavior on the dimensions of nutrition, physical activity, medical care, alcohol consumption, smoking and dieting and PGI General well Being Measure (PGI GWBM) Psychological well-being- PGI GWBM (English Version) by S.K Verma and A.Verma was used to assess the psychological wellbeing of early adults. This is a twenty item simplified test to measure positive mental health. Results showed that there are no gender differences in health habits among early adults. There were gender differences in psychological well-being among early adults. Correlation between health habits and psychological well-being was not observed. The results from the analysis of the checklist indicate some differences between men and women; more men were involved in external physical activity than women and women seemed to be not worried about their health and not visiting hospitals for checkups than men. Key words: gender differences, health habits, psychological well-being.

Nelson. P Diana

Psychology