Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Pages:66-69
H L Kaila (Department of Psychology S.N.D.T. Womens University, Mumbai)

This article is a part of an on-going national action research survey of behavior based safety (BBS) in India including 1750 executives and 713 workers in 57 multi-national organizations based on an in- depth group interviews and a structured questionnaire using open-ended questions. This paper includes a number of original case studies and field observations selected during BBS training interventions in a period of twelve years between 1997 and 2009 across Indian organizations (such as petroleum, steel, cement, power, chemical etc.) which shall be highly useful in application of the concept and process of BBS for human resource / safety professionals and everyone who is concerned about correcting unsafe behaviors for reduction of accidents and promoting safe behaviors for developing injury-free culture in their organizations.

Pages:1-10
Sangeeta Trama and Vandana Rana (Department of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab)

The population of the elderly is growing rapidly across the globe and is emerging as a serious area of concern for the government and policy makers. U.S. Census Bureau reported that India's older population is projected to quadruple by mid century, while that of the world is expected to triple. Due to increasing longevity and changing lifestyle factors, health of the elderly has become a matter of concern for every nation. The aim of the present study was to study the contribution of humor and emotion regulation towards health of the elderly. The sample comprised 150 elderly people & (75 males and 75 females) in the age range of 55-70 years who had retired from government service and were residing with their families. They were administered Humor Styles Questionnaire, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Mental Health Inventory-18 and General Health Rating Index. Inter-correlations were computed and general regression model was applied. The results revealed that humor solely or alongwith reappraisal contributed towards health of the elderly. Both, humor and reappraisal were significantly contributing towards mental health outcomes of the elderly males, whereas, in case of their physical health, affiliative and self-enhancing humor were found to do so. Affiliative humor was found to be a positive predictor of physical health of elderly females, whereas, in case of their mental health, none of these variables were found to be potential predictors. It was further found that health was positively related with affiliative and self-enhancing humor, though its links with aggressive and self-defeating humor were relatively missing. Reappraisal was found to be a significant determinant of health in elderly males, though it was significantly correlated with physical/mental health of both, males and females. Reappraisal was found to be linked with affiliative and self-enhancing humor particularly. The links of suppression with humor/health were, by and large, missing for both, elderly males as well as females. It was thought-provoking to find a positive relation between reappraisal and suppression.

Pages:16-20
Umesh L. Bharte (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

What does the present paper has to offer to the ongoing debate of whether we should have a separate, new positive psychology? The preliminary contribution is three-fold. First, an attempt is made to situate the claim of novelty in the context of endeavours of positive psychologists in providing a kind of history of psychology to justify and serve their own purposes. Second, declaration of positive psychology as representing a paradigm shift is re-examined following Kuhn's philosophical underpinnings. Finally, the questions related to pedagogy, and efforts to institutionalising positive psychology are posited. All of these lines have rarely been taken up in the debate about positive psychology, and when taken not for the concerns emphasised here. It is argued that only after embarking upon the issues raised in the paper, prerequisite to have a separate, new psychology for human strengths and virtues would adequately be evaluated.

Pages:24-26
Suneet Verma (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The paper examines Bhakti in light of the classical Indian depiction of emotions, viz. - the Rasa Theory. Bhakti is viewed as a movement in the emotional life of the aspirant, from minor devotional states (survival/pleasure/ego orientation), to major devotional states (love orientation). Drawing from Sri Aurobindo, a connection is then made between Bhakti and Psychic unfoldment. Devotional love provides the bedrock for a life lived in and from the Psychic. Further, years of observation, introspection, and reflection have lead me to conclude that one of the most essential pre-requisites for making an effective counselor/therapist is a groundedness in love, which ought to forever radiate from the being of the helping person. Traditionally in India, individuals turned to their gurus in times of crisis and suffering, and upon encountering the guru, the healing process began immediately because of the unconditional love and acceptance on the part of the guru, for the distressed individual. This paper thus focuses on the nature of (S)self work which takes one in the direction of becoming love (or more loving), and in this process better able to help others, and thereby also facilitate one's own evolution.

Pages:30-32
Anup Sud and Gauri Sharma (Department of Psychology, H.P. University, Shimla (H.P.), India)

The study aims to explore the relationship between family environment and self esteem of delinquents and non delinquents. The sample comprised of 50 delinquents within the age range of 14 to 16 years. Data was gathered by using Self-esteem Inventory (Prasad & Thakur, 1977) and Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1986). For delinquents, findings indicated a negative and significant correlation between desirable aspect of self esteem and cohesion in family environment. For non delinquents, a positive and significant correlation between desirable aspect of self esteem and cohesion in family environment was observed. Non delinquents from highly cohesive family were higher on desirable aspect of self esteem and reverse was true for delinquents. Results revealed that not only delinquents and non delinquents differ significantly from each other on the two dimensions of self esteem (i.e., desirable and undesirable) with non delinquent reporting higher self esteem as compared to their delinquent counterparts. Cohesion in family environment played a differential role towards their self esteem.

Pages:36-39
Ashima Soni (Department of Psychology, Panjab University, Chandigarh)

Positive psychology is the scientific study of positive experiences and positive individual traits, and the institutions that facilitate their development. It is the scientific study of positive experiences and positive individual traits, and the institutions that facilitate their development. Positive psychology has many distinguished ancestors and modern cousins. Since at least the time of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the “good life” has been the subject of philosophical and religious inquiry.

Pages:44-46
Monika Sharma and S C Manchanda (Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi)

The yogic practices not only serve as prevention and cure of physical disorders but also result in mental peace and higher psychic and spiritual attainments. In the yogic psychophysiology of the pranic system, the body, mind and spirit work in an integrated manner. Expansion of consciousness takes place through the awakening of the charkas. The outcomes of Yoga and meditation in various studies have shown beneficial effects in desirable psychosocial outcomes, clinical outcomes, neuropsychological and health care utilization.

Pages:50-54
Shiney Chib (Datta Meghe Institute of Management Studies, Nagpur, Maharashtra)

Positive psychology, a new branch of psychology which focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. Positive psychology has three central concerns: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions. Understanding positive emotions entails the study of contentment with the past, happiness in the present, and hope for the future. Understanding positive individual traits consists of the study of the strengths and virtues, such as the capacity for love and work, courage, compassion, resilience, creativity, curiosity, integrity, self-knowledge, moderation, self-control, and wisdom. Understanding positive institutions entails the study of the strengths that foster better communities, such as justice, responsibility, civility, parenting, nurturance, work ethic, leadership, teamwork, purpose, and tolerance. Emotional intelligence (EI) represents an ability to validly reason with emotions and to use emotions to enhance thought. It includes the abilities to accurately perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth. When it comes to leadership, EI is incredibly important, making the difference between effective and mediocre leadership. This paper throws light to the concept of emotional intelligence as a positive psychology tool for effective leadership.

Pages:59-62
Taruna and Sandeep Singh (Department of Applied Psychology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar) Sukhdas (Department of CMT, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar)

Mindfulness facilitates “wise mind” states, in which the individual is able to find a synthesis between emotional experience and logical thought (Feigenbaum, 2006). It primarily aims to teach people to approach the stressful situations “mindfully” so that they may respond to the situation wisely instead of reacting to it automatically. It is a core psychological process that can alter how we respond to the unavoidable difficulties in the life not only to everyday existential challenges , but also to severe psychological problems such as suicidal ideation (Linehan 1993a), chronic depression (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002) and psychotic delusions (Bach & Hayes, 2002). As a focused psychological strategy or skill, Mindfulness is gaining clinical credence for many psychological disorders (Baer, 2003). Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction has demonstrated positive effects for a number of physical and mental health problems including cancer, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety and disordered eating (Baer, 2003; Grossman et al., 2004). The present paper provides an understanding of the concept as well as throws light on the research into the neurological and behavioral benefits of mindfulness skill training.

Pages:66-69
H L Kaila (Department of Psychology S.N.D.T. Womens University, Mumbai)

This article is a part of an on-going national action research survey of behavior based safety (BBS) in India including 1750 executives and 713 workers in 57 multi-national organizations based on an in- depth group interviews and a structured questionnaire using open-ended questions. This paper includes a number of original case studies and field observations selected during BBS training interventions in a period of twelve years between 1997 and 2009 across Indian organizations (such as petroleum, steel, cement, power, chemical etc.) which shall be highly useful in application of the concept and process of BBS for human resource / safety professionals and everyone who is concerned about correcting unsafe behaviors for reduction of accidents and promoting safe behaviors for developing injury-free culture in their organizations.