Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Pages:136-142
Debatree Mukherjee (Department of Psychology, Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College, Barrackpore, Kolkata) Saugata Basu (Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta University College of Science, Technology and Agriculture, Kolkata )

The present study, intending to determine contributory factors of happiness, undertakes following variables: attachment pattern, ego functions, emotional intelligence, inner-other directedness and meaning in life as intrinsic factors and number of stressful life events in last one year as extrinsic factor. The sample was clustered into four age groups: Group-I(21 -30)years, Group-II(31-40)years, Group-III(41-50)years, Group-IV(51-60)years, each group comprising 50 males and 50 females. Personal Information Schedule, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, Relationship Scale Questionnaire, Ego Functions Assessment Scale Modified, Assessing Emotions Scale, Inner-Other Directedness Social Preference Scale, Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire were administered. Results reveal no significant gender difference regarding happiness. Significant age differences have been found in happiness; and in fearful attachment pattern, judgment, sense of reality, drive control, object relations, thought process, defensive functioning, stimulus barrier, synthetic-integrative functioning of ego functions, presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life. In group-I, Presence of meaning in life, emotional intelligence, secured attachment pattern; in group-II, presence of meaning in life, emotional intelligence, inner-other directedness, secured attachment pattern; in group-III, presence of meaning in life, secured attachment pattern, thought process, emotional intelligence; in group-IV presence of meaning in life, emotional intelligence, synthetic-integrative functioning, secured attachment pattern, inner-other directedness were found to be contributory to happiness.

Pages:148-152
Hena Khan and Nishat Afroz (Department of Psychology, BHU, Varanasi) Jaya Chakaravarty (Department of Medicine, IMS, BHU, Varanasi)

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is a disease of human immune system in which the body's normal defense system breaks down. Cognitive emotion regulation (CER) can be understood as the cognitive way of managing the intake of emotionally arousing information. The regulation of emotions through cognitions is inextricably associated with human life and helps to manage emotions after the experience of stressful events. There is clearly a need for effective stress management programs for individuals with HIV/AIDS. Techniques involving relaxation are widely used by people to reduce anxiety and cope with stress-related problems. The present study aims to find out the cognitive emotion regulation among HIV positive patients and effect of relaxation on CER. The study has been conducted at ART centre, Department of Medicine, S. S. Hospital, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. A total sample of 40 HIV positive people in the age range of 21 to 55 years, has been taken for the study. Nadia Garnefski's cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire having 36 items and relaxation techniques were administered on the sample. Paired sample t-test used for statistical analysis. Results indicate that the patient's cognitive emotion regulation is affected by the relaxation exercise. The findings suggest that positive ways of coping and to handle being HIV-infected can be enhanced by relaxation therapy.

Pages:162-167
Priyadarshini N. and Vijayalakshmi, V. (Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, Chennai)

The paper aims to introduce the concept of Positive Organizational Behaviour (POB) and its inception. It deals with definition of the concept as propounded by its founders, the idea of psychological capital and the main constructs that are found in literature: Confidence, Hope, Optimism, Resilience, Subjective Well Being and Emotional Intelligence. The paper focuses on reviewing the pertinent literature and providing an overall picture of the situation of POB as it exists today. The paper also throws light on the interventions that are designed to develop psychological capital among employees. Various studies that have been conducted in countries of China, Pakistan, Turkey and India are also mentioned to understand the academic scenario of the field in various nationalities. It also gives a glimpse of the variables that have been associated with and researched in the area of POB so far. The paper concludes with the gaps that exist in the field and paves way for future research prospects. The overview of POB provided in this article will enhance the scope for both academicians and practitioners. It is hoped that academicians would benefit from this review through highlighting the gaps in the literature, thereby providing a direction for future research prospects. It is of practical value to the managers/practitioners as it sheds light on the impact that interventions have on performance.

Pages:173-176
Dinesh Singh (Govt. College, Baund Kalan, Bhiwani, Haryana) Anita Malik (Pt. N. R. S. Govt. College, Rohtak, Haryana)

The present study was designed to assess and compare the level of spirituality and happiness of males and females of different rural and urban areas of District Rohtak and explore the relationship the correlation between spirituality and happiness. A 2x2 factorial design was adopted for the present study. The study was conducted over a sample of 200 (100 males and 100 females) of the age group of 20-40 years. Out of them 100 subjects (50 males and 50 females) were selected from different rural areas and 100 subjects (50 males and 50 females) were selected from different urban areas on random basis. Structured Interview Schedule was used to assess the level of spirituality. Revised Oxford Happiness Scale was used to assess the level of happiness of the subjects. It was hypothesized that there will be a significant difference between rural and urban as well as male and female in the level of spirituality and happiness. It was also hypothesized that there will be a significant positive relationship between spirituality and happiness of the subjects. The obtained data was analysed by mean, SD, t-test and Pearson 'r'. No significant difference was found in level of spirituality as well as happiness due to differences of sex and residential background of the subjects. A significant moderate positive relationship was found between the level of spirituality and happiness of the subjects. On the basis of the finding of the study it may be concluded that spiritual and religious belief serve as source of attachment, security and confidence and motivate people to strive for their life goals and live happily.

Pages:182-183
Pragati Dixit and Mahmood S. Khan (Department of Psychology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP)

Spirituality refers to an inner path that enables people to find out the reason of their existence and helps them in reaching and exploring challenges, seeking personal truth and developing the sense of unity of life. Quality of life is person's perception of his/her position in life in the context of society, culture and value system in which he/she lives and in relation to his/ her aims, expectations and concerns. Present study was undertaken to examine the relationship between spirituality and quality of life among adults. For that purpose Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale and WorldHealthOrganization QOL Instrument were used. The sample consisted of 60 adults with age range 35-45 years selected by means of purposive technique of sampling. Results indicated that spirituality have positive effect on quality of life.

Pages:187-190
Yogesh Pahuja (HR Consultant and Trainer)

The aim of Positive Psychology is to study the best things in life that lead to well being, to positive individuals, and to flourishing community. Positive Psychology emphasis is on building structures, cultures, processes, leadership and other organizational conditions that foster positive dynamics in human communities. The field of “Positive Psychology” is still in its nascent stage. In its current level of understanding it is fitted into a three-tier framework. At the subjective level it is about positive experiences, at the individual level it is about the character strengths and at the group level it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship. Luthans has drawn on the Positive Psychology movement to coin a new term called Positive Organizational Behaviour or simply POB and has defined the following elements that he believes can be used to improve organization's performance namely; Optimism, Hope, Happiness or Self Well Being (SWB), Resilience, Emotional Intelligence and Confidence/Self-Efficacy.

Pages:194-196
Dalbir Singh Saini (District Social Welfare Officer, Hisar, Haryana)

Due to advancement in medical field and improvement in general living standards longevity of life has considerably increased in the country. As a results, number of senior citizen in the country is steadily rising. It is projected that population of old person will grow at a faster pace than the population of general. Because of migration from rural areas to urban areas and break up on joint family, family system, older person often get neglected. Thus there is a greater need to study the health, psycho-social problems of senior citizen and their remedies.

Pages:200-202
Zaki Akhtar (Department of Psychology, Karim City College, Jamshedpur)

This study was conducted with the objective to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior. A total number of 110 college teachers working in difference colleges of Jamshepur were included as a sample. Emotional intelligence scale developed and standardized by Hyde et al. (2002) and Organizational citizenship behavior scale developed by Podsakoff et al. (1990) were administered on the selected sample. The obtained data were analyzed in the light of correlation and regression analysis. The computation was done in SPSS version 17.0. The result revealed that emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior positively and significantly correlated. Further the result revealed that the result of the regression shows that organizational citizenship behavior can be predicted from emotional intelligence. The suggestions were also discussed.

Pages:207-211
Sabira Khan (Department of Psychology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh) Musaddiq Jahan (Womens College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh)

This article will explore the common ground between positive and humanistic Psychology. Positive psychology is contributing to a more precise definition of the outline of human well-being and is fully incorporating studies on positive elements (strength and positive emotions) that are without doubt amplifying the framework of research and conduct of psychology, in particular that of clinical psychology and health psychology. This paper therefore begins with a brief review of the humanistic movement and its ongoing call for a more positive psychology. We then move into an exploration of the unique research approaches and areas of study will include the perspective of eudaimonic and headonism. We will investigate on such issues as well being and happiness in light of positive psychology.