Psychological Well-being of Student-Teachers: Exploring Gender and Locality Differences with Scale Reliability Assessment

Student-teachers' psychological well-being is a significant determinant of academic achievement, professional growth, and general readiness for teaching. It is the purpose of this study to test the reliability of the Psychological Well-being (PWB) Scale and explore gender and locality variations in psychological well-being among student-teachers. In all, 85 student-teachers (26 males, 59 females) from rural and urban teacher education colleges took part in the research. The 50-item PWB Scale reported high internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.824) and acceptable split-half reliability. No gender differences were present for most aspects of psychological well-being, with the sole exception of mental health, on which males scored higher than females at a significant level (p = 0.002). Likewise, psychological well-being was not significantly different in urban and rural areas (p > 0.05). They reflect on the need for valid measures and assist in illuminating the significance of demographic variables in the formation of the psychological well-being of student-teachers.