Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Pages:311-314
Jagpreet Kaur and Dalvir Singh (Department of Education, Punjabi University, Patiala )

Coping skills are those methods which are meant to cope with stress. The ultimate goal of these skills is a balanced life, with time for work, relationship, relaxation etc. The purpose of the present study was to explore the impact of family and school environment on coping skills viz. coping with emotions and stress in a sample of 500 adolescents from Patiala district of Punjab. The results of correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship of these coping skills with cohesion, expressiveness, acceptance and caring, independence, active recreational orientation, organization and control dimensions of family environment among adolescents. However, a negative and significant relationship of these coping skills with conflict dimension of family environment among adolescents was observed. Also, coping skills among adolescents was found to be positively and significantly related to cognitive encouragement, permissiveness, acceptance and control dimensions of school environment. However, coping skills among adolescents were found to be negatively and significantly related to rejection dimension of school environment. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was run to examine the extent to which the various dimensions of family and school environment contributed to the variability in coping skills among adolescents. The results indicated that independence, expressiveness and acceptance and caring dimensions of family environment and rejection and control dimensions of school environment were the significant predictors of coping with emotions among adolescents. However, coping with stress was found to be significantly predicted by conflict, independence and control components of family environment and rejection component of school environment. Together these family and school environment components explain 12.1 % of the variance in coping with emotions and 20.5 % of the variance in coping with stress. These implications of the results of the study are discussed.

Pages:321-325
Veena Easvaradoss and Rini Rajan (Department of Psychology, Womens Christian College, Chennai)

Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology that is commonly defined as 'the scientific study of optimal functioning' (Seligman, 2002) and the 'scientific study of ordinary human strengths and virtue' (Sheldon & King, 2001). The definitions highlight the scientific underpinnings of the field and the positive, non-clinical focus of positive psychology. Spirituality has been studied in positive psychology and defined as “a deep sense of belonging, of wholeness, of connectedness, and of openness to the infinite” (Kelly, 1995). Spirituality is associated with mental health, managing substance abuse, marital functioning, parenting, coping and finding purpose and meaning in life. The article discusses the concepts of positive psychology highlighting their influence on well-being.

Pages:329-332
Sandhya Rai and Anshuma Singh (Department of Psychology, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, U.P.)

The present study examines the level of stress and the coping strategies among nursing students. The sample was comprised of 180 nursing students in various hostels selected by a stratified random sampling. A socio - demographic questionnaire was used to identify students for the sample under study. Perceptions of Stressful Scale (PSS) by Cohen, (1983) and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (CISS) by Endler and Parker, (1999) were used to assess level of stress and coping strategies among selected nursing students. Descriptive statistics, item-total coefficients of correlation and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Mean and SD of stress measure for male (M = 19.844, SD = 5.452), for female (M = 21.478, SD = 7.438), and for the whole sample (M = 20.661, SD = 6.555). And, Mean and SD of task-oriented coping for male (M = 51.511, SD = 8.162) for female (M = 49.889, SD =7.646) and for the whole sample (M = 50.700 , SD = 7.928), emotion-oriented coping for male (M = 44.922, SD = 9.043) for female (M = 44.533, SD = 7.333) and for the whole sample (M = 44.728, SD = 8.212) as well as avoidance-oriented coping for male (M = 46.656, SD = 7.961) for female (M = 48.289, SD = 7.235) and for the whole sample (M = 47.472, SD = 7.629) measures of coping strategies. The reliability indices of stress measure for male (SH = 0.769,), for female (SH = 0.870), and for the whole sample (SH = 0.837). And task-oriented coping for male (SH = 0.791) for female (SH = 0.708) and for the whole sample (SH = 0.710), emotion-oriented coping for male (SH = 0.729) for female (SH = 0.894) and for the whole sample (SH = 0.678), as well as avoidance-oriented coping for male (SH = 0.745) for female (SH = 0.603) and for the whole sample (SH = 0.660) measures of coping strategies emerged to be robust, and that the task-oriented coping, emotion-oriented coping and avoidance-oriented coping emerged to be an independent over the levels of analysis (for male, for female and for the whole sample).

Pages:337-339
Alpana Vaidya (Department of Psychology, Symbiosis College of Arts & Commerce, Pune)

Good health is the key to happiness and prosperity. It holds at any point in one's life time. The present paper is an attempt to study the relationship between quality of life and emotional intelligence among arts and commerce students in Pune city. The total sample consisted of 313 students from various colleges of Pune city where this course is taught. They were administered Quality of life scale and Emotional Intelligence scale. The quality of life was measured with the help of Comprehensive Quality of Life scale Adult (ComQol- A-5, 1997) developed by Robert Cummins. Emotional Intelligence was measured with the help of Schutte et al. (1998) scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 for windows. Pearson's Product moment correlation was used to test the correlational hypotheses and Anova used to find out gender differences and faculty wise differences in quality of life and emotional intelligence. Results showed significant gender differences on Subjective Quality of Life (SQOL) but gender differences were not found on Objective Quality of Life (OQOL) and Emotional Intelligence (EI). Regarding faculty wise differences, obtained results showed that girls from arts faculty scored higher on SQOL.

Pages:343-346
Vijeta Bhati and Sanjay Kumar (Department of Psychology, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, U.P.)

The study aims to find out the combined effects of Reiki and Acupressure on migraine headache, anxiety and stress in 40-migraine headache suffering women of age range 30-40 years. Subjects with high intensity, frequency, and associated anxiety and stress were selected through standardized tools. The Reiki and Acupressure treatment were applied twice a week for 3 Months. The Pre and Post experimental design with control and experimental group was employed in the study. The obtained was statistically analyzed by mean, t-test and percentage revealed that the Reiki and Acupressure were significantly effective in reducing migraine headache and associated anxiety of experimental group. Besides it relief in insomnia, restlessness and behavioral irritation was also reported by migraine suffering adult women.

Pages:350-353
Happy Paul and Pooja Garg (Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorki, Uttarakhand )

Rising above the exclusive focus by the discipline of psychology on pathology, the last decade has witnessed an increasing attention to how positive psychology has embraced the so far neglected positive aspects of life. Since then significant consideration is given to different measures of well-being and its role in applied research. In the pursuit of well-being researchers have taken the concept from subjective well-being to psychological well-being. However, there always remain a debate on a meaningful conceptual distinction between subjective well-being and psychological well-being. The study aims at moving beyond this debate and explores the theoretical foundation of subjective well-being and its relation with psychological well-being. Alongside, the relevancy of the two-component configuration of subjective well-being constituting cognitive and affective dimensions is also demonstrated. It is argued that these components, although distinct concepts, are tied in a reciprocal relationship to make a higher order subjective well-being. Purchase PDF

Pages:358-361
Mamta Jain and Meeta Jha (Pt. Ravishankar University, Raipur, Chattisgarh)

Subjective well-being (SWB) reveals how people evaluate their lives, with variables like life satisfaction, in presence of positive emotions and absence of negative emotions. In present scenario psychologists are interested in knowing what makes people happy, how we can enhance happiness, which are the factors which influence subjective satisfaction. One of the important topics of research that has gained a lot of interest and attention is for defining and knowing the depth of the relationship between personality and subjective well-being (SWB). Many researches all over the world, in this field indicated a link and important relationship between personality and SWB, and personality is found to be one of the most stable and strong predictors of SWB. In India, in present condition, when everyone is talking about females and secured conditions for females in society, a great need emerged to explore relationship between personality traits and subjective well-being with life satisfaction. Thus to investigate the personality correlates of SWB and life satisfaction, the present study was designed with a total sample of 500 educated females in urban area of Raipur City. Sample was selected from general population from almost all the colleges and educational institutes of Raipur City. For this purpose 16 PF and Subjective well-being scale with life satisfaction were used. Correlation and regression analysis were used to find out the relationship between 16 personality factors and SWB with life satisfaction. It was found out that personality traits Emotionally stable/affected by feelings, sober/happy-Go-lucky, conscientious/expedient, shy/venturesome, tough/tender minded , conservative/experimenting, group dependent/self sufficient found to be positively correlated with SWB with life satisfaction. Secondly, it was also found that only four personality traits among sixteen personality traits emerged out as most significant contributing predictor for SWB with life satisfaction.

Pages:365-368
Kanchan Dilawari and Nishi Tripathi (Department of Psychology, Sam HiggintonInstititute of Agriculture and Technology, Allahabad, UP)

The purpose of the present article is to review the empirical support for teachers to provide strategies for tackling students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Three major aspects discussed are alarming rise of ADHD among students, entangling issues with teaching students with ADHD and unleashing strategies for tackling such children. Practical implications of the school based outcome literature will be delineated, including the need for the following: (a) technical-support mediated strategies; (b) classroom strategies; (c) activity-based strategies; (d) peer tutoring strategies; and (e) homework strategies. It is suggested on bridging the gap between the empirical literature and actual practices employed in schools. School-based professionals are urged to implement empirically supported strategies through individualizing interventions based on assessment data. Through long term implication of such evidence based strategies, it is hoped that the deficits characteristics of ADHD will be minimized and the likelihood of school success for these students optimized.

Pages:372-374
V. Subramanyam (Department of Psychology, Sports Authority of India, Netaji Subhas Southern Centre, Bangalore)

Developing self confidence is paramount significance in order for sports persons to attain self confidence and achieve optimal / peak performance. Low self confidence can be altered through training that focuses on the role of confidence in our behavior. Self confidence concerned with accumulation of the athletes unique experiences in achieving many different things which results in the specific expectations. It is a vital part of athletic part of personality and something others quickly recognize about him or her. This article delineates the five steps involved in the developing confidence of the sports person. The developing stages involve identifying fears (first step) followed by master fear (second step) to be provided with how to master fears. Employing goal mapping involve in third step where athletes have used goal setting as a way to increase self-confidence and boost self-esteem. The next stage includes boosting belief in athlete's ability. The final stage involves mastering confidence challenge, well preparation, and staying positive.

Pages:377-379
Virendra Singh Nirwan (Department of Psychology, Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, University of Delhi, Delhi)

Social Support (SS) refers to the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance available from other people, and that one is part of a supportive social network. These supportive resources can be emotional (e.g., nurturance), tangible (e.g., financial assistance), informational (e.g., advice), or companionship (e.g., sense of belonging). This paper presents a study which was conducted to measure and compare the degree/magnitude of social support between the people migrated from Jammu &Kashmir, and Bihar to Delhi. The sample consisted of 100 people between the age of 18-30, with equal number of people belonging to both the states and sexes. The SS was assessed using Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ). The number of people named & the level of satisfaction rated toward the same people from whom each participant seeks social support were carefully examined. The result is twofold as for no. of people and the level of satisfaction reported on six point scale by each participant. The hypothesis was tested at level of significance of .01. From the data, it is concluded that people from Bihar who migrated to Delhi are well and better in seeking social support from society and find it easy to get along with local people than those from Jammu & Kashmir who find it hard to get along with others and exercise rudeness. This paper presents the study in rich detail and explains the methods by which conclusions are drawn.