The Relationship Between Intelligence and Psychological Well-Being in Incoming College Students

This study investigated the relationship between intelligence and psychological well-being in young adults. Contradictory findings are presented about the relationship between intelligence and PWB in children and adolescents, and qualitative findings by Lovecky (J Couns Develop 64:572–575, 1986) in adults. For young adults, the authors predicted positive linear relationships between intelligence and PWB dimensions of Environmental Mastery, Autonomy, Personal Growth, Purpose in Life, and a curvilinear relationship between intelligence and the PWB dimension of Positive Relations with Others. These hypotheses were tested on a sample of 3,829 incoming first-year students at a large university using multiple regression of SAT scores (The College Board, SAT Reasoning Test, 1926–2005) and scores of these dimensions on a 54-item version (van Dierendonck, Personal Individ Differ 36:629–643, 2004) of Ryff’s (J Personal Soc Psychol, 57(6):1069–1081, 1989) Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Results supported a curvilinear relationship between SAT Verbal and Positive Relations with Others; significant relationships between SAT Math and Purpose in Life and Personal Growth were also discovered, but in the negative direction. Limitations, possible reasons for data trends, and potential application of results to university policy are discussed.