Abstract

The dispositional and contextual factors influencing psychological well-being (PWB) among prison officers in Oyo state were investigated with a descriptive survey research design. Three hundred commissioned and non-commissioned prison officers were selected in Oyo state command of Nigerian Prison Service using a simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires consisting of demographic section and standardized scales on the independent variables and PWB were used to collect data. The reliability of the scales are; occupational stress α = .87, work life- balance α = .84, social support α = .62, job attitude α = .94, self-esteem α = .85, and PWB α = .89. Three research questions were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that there was significant relationship between occupational stress and PWB (r= .291, p<0.05). A significant relationship between work life balance and PWB (r= .431, p<0.05). A significant relationship between social support and PWB (r= .459, p<0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between job attitude and PWB (r= .054, p>0.05). Self-esteem was also found to have significant with PWB (r= .416, p<0.05). The five independent variables jointly accounted for 35.7% variance in predicting PWB among prison officers. The independent variables made positive relative contribution to PWB in the following order: self-esteem (Beta= .204; t= 3.653; p<0.05); Social support (Beta= .302; t= 5.556; p<0.05), work life balance (Beta= .202; t= 3.046;p<0.05) occupational stress (Beta= .138; t= 2.428;p<0.05); and job attitude (Beta= .116; t= 2.156;p<0.05). The independent variables jointly accounted for 36.8% variance in predicting PWB among prison officers. It was recommended that to enhance the PWB of prison officers, emotional, psychological, and social support should be given to them by their families, so their colleagues at work as this would make them to have a sense of belonging and great job performance.