Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Pages:280-285
Imran Khan (Psychologist at Drug De-addiction Centre and Stress Management, Helpline, Police Control Room Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir) Showkat Ahmed Shah (Department of Psychology University of Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir)

The present study compared substance dependents who go for de-addiction with those who don't go for de-addiction on the basis of subjective wellbeing. The sample consists of (N=100) drug addict males taken from district Srinagar. One group of subjects (N=50) include those drug addicts who were attending drug de-addiction centers. Another group of drug addicts (N=50), taken from different areas of district Srinagar include those drug addicts who don't go for drug de-addiction. Alcohol smoking and substance involvement screening test was first used to screen the individuals for substance dependence and then Subjective Wellbeing Inventory by Nagpal and Sell (1992) was used to assess the subjective wellbeing of the participants. The results in this study showed that t-values of the two factors of the subjective wellbeing, i.e., confidence in coping (t=2.402*) and perceived ill health (t=2.096*) were found significant beyond 0.05 levels of significance. However the t-values of the all other factors like General wellbeing positive affect (t=0.853), Expectation achievement congruence (t=0.977), Transcendence (t=0.073), Family group support (t=0.000), social support (t=0.922) Primary group concern (t=1.922), Inadequate mental mastery (t=0.826), Deficiency in social contacts (t=1.034) and general wellbeing negative affect (t=1.006) were found as insignificant even at 0.05 level of significance.

Pages:293-296
Priyanka (Department of Psychology, M.A.C.W, Jhajjar, Haryana) Promila Batra (Department of Psychology, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana)

Recent years have seen a sudden surge in an array of cognitive dysfunctions such as decline in memory, distraction in attention, lack of concentration, and other attention related disorders. Stressful lifestyle in this competitive world may be the root cause. Modern therapeutics though has a spectrum of drugs for the management of cognitive dysfunctions, but they are having serious side effects and habit forming nature. Therefore, in the last few years, there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine, and these drugs are gaining popularity in both developing and developed countries because of their natural origin and less side effects. Present study is also aimed at exploring the role of Shankhapushpi, a herbal plant in attentional processes. A pre-post, placebo-controlled, double-blind, two groups design was used. Sample was selected from college going student volunteers, belonging to an age group of 19-25 years. Total 50 subjects were contacted and tested upon their span of attention. 30 subjects having a moderate span of attention were selected and divided into 2 groups of 15 Ss each. One group was experimental group, in which the subjects received Shankhapushpi powder (3.5 gm per day with honey followed by a glass of milk) for 10 days. Other group was the control group, administered with the same dose of ordinary powder (made with coriander, spinach, fenugreek etc.) in the same manner. Two types of attentional processes i.e. Alternating, and Divided were taken. The subjects were tested on these tasks before starting the administration of both powders and immediately after stopping the administration. Obtained scores were analyzed by using 't' test. The results indicated that ten days administration was not sufficient to leave a significant impact of Shankhapushpi on any type of attention. Higher doses need to be tested before drawing any generalization.

Pages:301-309
Ruchi Singh (Institute of Behavioural Science, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gujrat)

Engagement in sport and exercise are important for maintaining holistic health and enhancing performance in sports. Sports are invaluable in the life of young students. The personality of sportsmen plays a vital role in exhibiting performance in sports. There are numerous evidences suggesting that how different personality dimensions affect sports performance and how the personality dimensions of different sportsmen differ from one another. The link between personality and sports performance helps the sports psychologists to predict about the outcome of the sports and also to select sportsman for different sports on the basis of the personality of athletes. Besides, the present article provides information that how much sports have importance in our life and also provide some suggestions to improve the quality of sports performance through spiritual exercises (i.e. yoga, meditation) and some cognitive-behavioral techniques (positive self-talk, relaxation and visualization) .

Pages:313-316
Nity Sharma (Defence Institute of Psychological Research, DRDO, Delhi) C.R. Darolia (Department of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana)

In last few decades, there has been a burgeoning interest in the construct of temperament, including its relationship with elicitation and expression of emotion. Although there is not a clear consensus on the meaning of the construct, there is a general acceptance that temperament involves individual differences in behavioural and emotional processes during development and is shaped by biological processes. Among the many determinants of individual differences, negative emotions, occupy a special place in research along with temperament. Negative emotionality is a broad construct that is central to most models of temperament. It includes fine-grained constructs/facets of anxiety, sadness, anger and irritability. The present study focuses on the relation of temperamental traits given by Strelau (1974, 1993) while developing Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT), with negative emotions of fear, anxiety, depression and anger in a non-clinical sample of 403 children. The results of Pearson's correlations indicate a significant relationship between most of the temperamental traits and negative emotions.

Pages:322-324
Sairaj M. Patki (Department of Psychology, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune, Maharashtra) Shobhana C. Abhyankar (Department of Psychology, Fergusson College, Pune, Maharashtra)

Helping behaviors at the workplace go a long way in contributing towards a healthy work-environment and organizational functioning. The present study aimed at investigating whether employees display interpersonal helping/citizenship behaviors directed towards individuals (OCBI) and organizational helping/citizenship behaviors directed towards the organization (OCBO) equally well. The sample comprised of 325 clerical employees from nationalized and co-operative banks. Results showed a significant difference between OCBI and OCBO, with employees reporting that they indulge in OCBO more often than OCBI. The possible explanation and implications of the study are discussed.

Pages:329-331
Pooja Singh (Department of Psychology, Panjab University, Chandigarh)

Movies may be considered a very powerful medium of entertainment, and at the same time they offer insights into various aspects of human behavior. Psychologists in the West have been observing different aspects of psychology in the movies- social behavior, psychological disorders, etc. Also, the advent of Positive Psychology marks an interesting shift in perspective as far as research in the field of psychology is concerned, and therefore has had some impact in the area of movies as well. Positive psychologists have been doing some research in the area of films, Niemiec, a psychologist practising in St. Louis being the fore runner. The Indian film industry being such a powerful mode of entertainment in the country warrants research in this area, which may pave way for psycho-educational and therapeutic utilization of the information thus obtained.

Pages:341-343
Prabhat Kumar Mishra (Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education, NCERT, New Delhi)

This article is an attempt to provide the reader with an overview of the field of coping with stress. The term stress occurs not only in our daily conversations but has also attracted widespread media attention. Different people hold different views about it as stress can be from a variety of sources. Although stress is an inevitable part of human life, yet it can also yield positive effects. What we need is to reduce the amount of negative stress (distress), and enjoy and appreciate positive stress (eustress). However, when left unchecked and unmanaged, stress can create problems in performance and affect the health and well-being of a person. Coping refers to cognitive and behavioural effects at mitigating stress. The article has explained the concept and forms of coping, and discussed some strategies to cope effectively with stress. Implications for teachers and counsellors have also been outlined.

Pages:347-349
K. Purandaran (Nodal Centre of Excellence for Human Rights Education, School of Law, Rights & Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)

Meditation has an effective tool that alleviates suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic disorders. Various popular versions of the programs were studied and reported many beneficial effects. The lesser known but original techniques of meditation were not subject to scientific study. The Meaning of Life is an essential ingredient in subjective wellbeing, hence this study. 92 spiritual practitioners who practice - Prasada Para Vidya - a meditation technique were studied along with 54 non meditating controls. Out of 92 the 39 subjects were meditators and 53 were practicing a vow of virtue. The total sample is 146 in this study. The Meaning of Life Scale (Steger, 2009) were used in this study along with additional wellbeing parameters like Satisfaction with life, Self transcendence, Spirituality as other parameters of wellbeing. The results sows that the meditation group and non meditation group are significantly (p < .05) different on meaning of life score. The effect size seems to be higher comparing the meditation group with vow of virtue group for meaning of life (p < .05). The meaning of life is correlated with spirituality score. The Self transcendence scale is correlated with satisfaction with life and spirituality scales but not correlated with meaning of life directly. Self transcendence seems to be working as a moderator by triggering other well being measures and have a bearing on meaning of life.

Pages:356-362
Satchit Prasun Mandal, Yogesh Kumar Arya and Rakesh Pandey (Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh)

The link between mindfulness and better emotion regulation (ER) has been well documented, but the mechanism through which it improves ER is still unclear. It is likely that the emotion regulatory effects of mindfulness might be occurring indirectly through other affective aspects (e.g., range & differentiation of emotional experiences). The said possibility was tested on a sample of 211 adults, using self-report measures of mindfulness, the use of ER strategies (reappraisal & suppression) and range and differentiation of emotional experience. Analyses revealed that mindfulness and its dimensions correlated negatively with the use of suppression and positively with reappraisal as well as range and differentiation of emotional experiences. The hypothesis that mindfulness influences ER indirectly through altering the range and differentiation of emotions is supported by the findings of structural equation modeling. Findings revealed that mindfulness was indirectly linked with enhanced use of reappraisal through improved emotional differentiation and reduced use of suppression through enhancement of both the range and differentiation of emotional experiences. Further, mindfulness was found to have a significant direct effect on suppression but not on reappraisal. These findings imply that mindfulness exerts its emotion regulatory effect indirectly by enhancing the range and differentiation of emotional experiences but it may also have some direct effect on some aspects of ER such as reduced emotional suppression.

Pages:368-375
Hardik Shah (Department of Management, Indian Institute of Management, Shillong) D. Dutta Roy (Psychology Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)

Values are conceived of as guiding principles in life. It is the most striking fact about human life and as the core concept of human existence. Values are expressions of worth, likes or dislikes concerning things, persons, principles etc. It is hierarchical in nature. Therefore, one's behaviour is directed by relative preference of values. In existing research, preference to value is culture specific as value researchers intuitively thought of values and their approach was criticized. Reverend Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel laureate in literature composed several songs observing changes in nature, air, light, temperature etc. By analysis of his songs, Dutta Roy and Bandopadhyay (2010) explored 14 path and 14 goal oriented human values. These values are universal in nature. The values reflect the inner (Raag layer) and inner core (Saraswat layer) layers of consciousness. Some path oriented values are Self-awakening (Imagining positive power), Non-self-insulting (Not offending to self), Cleanliness (Neat and tidy), No work-family conflict (Maintaining balance between family and work demand), Niskam principle (Working without expectation of reward), Resolute (Determined in purpose and action), Active (Avoidance of laziness). And some Goal values are Peace (Free from conflicts with others), Universalization (Thinking for everyone), Enlightenment (Having true understanding), Positive Feeling (Feeling of happiness), Salvation (Saving self from bad effect), Self-Empowerment (Enabling power to self), Security (Protection from attack), Significance in Life (Finding meaning in life), Altruism (Considering good of others before own). This study aims at exploring latent relations among both path and goal oriented values. Data were collected from adolescent male (n=308) and female (n=211) students (N=519) of one of the reputed management institution in India. They had diverse backgrounds in terms of religion, castes, language, and native places. Value questionnaire was administered to them. Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation extracted four components of path oriented values accounted for 70% variances and two components of goal oriented values accounted for 80% variances. Extracted values are important for Rabindrik psychotherapy and human resource management.