1,720,990 research outputs found
Advancing Positive Psychology in South East Asia: the Importance of Culture
Full text linkInterest in the field of positive psychology has been overwhelming. This can be observed from the number of academic conferences and journals attributed to this field. Similar patterns can be observed in Asia where more and more research are concentrating on investigating constructs deemed as important within the field of positive psychology. However, comparable to other fields within psychology, positive psychology cannot ignore the importance of culture. This is especially true in South East Asian context when culture is arguably distinct from the American/European traditions in which positive psychology was originated from. Culture is likely to play a significant role in determining how human strengths are being conceptualized and nurtured and eventually determined a persons well-being and success as experienced within that particular society. Based on some findings from a research of adolescents happiness and well-being in Malaysia, this paper highlights the importance of culture in advancing positive psychology in Asia. More specifically, findings from this research demonstrated the importance of positive psychology in understanding and improving quality of life for certain groups of people in a particular society and illustrated several significant cultural and subcultural differences that can potentially enrich our understanding of positive psychological constructs. Findings also indicated the importance of culturally embedded constructs such as family relations and spiritual elements in contributing to happiness. Finally findings from this study suggested the need to unpack more general constructs such as positive relationships and meanings of life as they are contextualized within a specific culture and the call for further exploration on other constructs related to human positive attributes and strengths.Keyword: positive psychology, wellbeing, culture, an
Self-Compassion, Social Connectedness And Self-Regulation Of Health Behaviour: A Preliminary Study On Local Undergraduates In Malaysia
Full text linkSelf-compassion refers to the ability to care and have compassion towards oneself during the hard time in their life, which offers them a sense of warmth, connectedness and concern. Social connectedness refers to how individuals relate themselves with others and how they perceive themselves in those relationships. Self-regulation of health behaviour refers to one’s initiatives, such as setting goals, taking action and monitoring progress, in personal health management. This study examined 1) gender difference in self-compassion, 2) the level of self-compassion, social connectedness and self-regulation of health behaviour, and 3) the relationship between self-compassion, social connectedness and self-regulation of health behaviour, among local undergraduates in Malaysia. Participants were 292 local undergraduates in a Malaysian public university who completed a questionnaire package on Self-Compassion Scale (α = .79), the Health Responsible part of Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (α = .85) and The Social Connectedness Scale-Revised (α = .87). Findings reported insignificant gender difference in self-compassion among local undergraduates. Findings also reported adequate level of self-compassion, high level of social connectedness and low level of self-regulation of health behaviour among local undergraduates in Malaysia. There was significant and positive relationship between self-compassion, social connectedness and self-regulation of health behaviour. Contribution, limitation and future research direction of current study were discussed
Character Strengths and Positive Outcomes
Full text linkCharacter strengths have been defined as positive traits associated with individual
differences. It has been explored as part of the personality that contributes to well-being,
happiness and flourishing. This paper provides a review of the VIA Classification of character
strengths and the relationships between character strengths and positive outcomes. Previous
research shows that different character strengths predict different outcomes. From the review,
character strengths have been found to generally increase life satisfaction, flourishing and
leadership. Character strengths also have significant relationships with coping with stress,
mastering online education system and recovering from addiction behaviour. Most of the studies
were conducted in Western countries across a variety of population. The review highlights the
importance of studying character strengths, especially in less studied samples such as Malaysia
What makes you feel grateful? A qualitative study to examine gratitude-eliciting events
Full text linkAlthough many studies focusing on benefits of gratitude, only a few researchers have looked
into factors of gratitude.These studies also tend to focus on the experience of gratefulness
towards others’ help but not on the more comprehensive sources of gratefulness.Therefore,
the aim of the present study is to examine all possible events or situations that can potentially
elicit one’s gratefulness.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 undergraduate
students from a public university in Malaysia.The participants were asked to list down the
events that could elicit their gratefulness.In addition, they were asked to indicate the most
frequently occurring events and the events that elicited highest level of gratitude.The
findings identified 7 domains and 25 categories (under the 7 domains) that developed from
a total of 780 events reported by the participants.Findings showed that gaining something especially getting help from family would make people feel most grateful and it happens frequently.Furthermore, staying connected with people was also reported as happening
frequently, which may be attributed to human’s motivation to maintain relationship with
others.Moreover, individuals felt most grateful for others’ welfare and thank God for others related events.This implies that the members from collectivist culture (e.g., Malaysia) value others welfare over their own welfare.Lastly, the events were organised into a simpler version that consist of only 96 events that serve as a guideline for future researchers to develop measurement on gratitude-eliciting events.The limitations of present study and recommendations for future research were discussed
Reviewing research on flow in school setting
Full text linkFlow refers to a psychological state in which people are undergoing optimal experience
during a particular activity. Specifically, people who experience flow are happy, cognitively
efficient, and motivated at the same time.The concept of flow has begun to be widely applied in school setting ever since it was established. However, limited work has focused on systematic review of the current trend of the literature.The aim of this paper is to review published studies on flow within the school setting.A total number of 233 research studies including journals, journal’s articles, dissertations, and books that are related to flow has been reported in various academic databases.Various research studies that are related to flow in school setting have been reviewed to understand the contemporary trend.In
depth discussion on specific academic exercises (e.g., writing, reading, and teaching) has been selected as one of the major focuses in this review.The limitations in term of research
development of flow in school setting are also discussed
Developing A Local-Based Theoretical Understanding Of Domestic Violence Against Wives
Full text linkBy focusing on the youths of Malaysia, this research
investigates how cultural norms contribute towards the acceptance of violent behaviour between spouses amongst the Malaysia population, assesses the influence of religious and cultural beliefs on such acceptance and examine* the relationship between youths' ideas about the position of men and women in society and their understanding about domestic violence against wive
“Don’t Marry, Be Happy!” – How Single Women in Malaysia View Marriage
No full textThe aim of this study is to explore how single women in Malaysia who have never been married view marriage and related issues. Two-hundred single women between the ages of 24 to 66 were interviewed in this study. Participants reported their view on gender and marriage (42-items), social expectations related to their marital status (12-item) and their marital plan. Participants reported moderately traditional view about gender and marriage experienced some level of expectations to get married and although they generally felt positive with their current status of being single, they were still open to the idea of marriage. Ideal characteristics of a partner include kindness, sincerity, responsibility and maturity. Findings indicated realistic but open expectations related to marriage
Learning from student expectations of higher education: a study in a public university in Malaysia
No full textThis study looks at the expectations of undergraduate students in one public university in Malaysia with regard to the introduction of the Accelerated Program for Excellence (APEX). The university has undergone major transformations, which consequently influence the expectations of students. This paper uses two sets of data: data collected through six focus group interviews and data from responses to a series of open-ended questions. These open-ended questions were part of a bigger survey consisting of 275 undergraduates, but only responses related to the open-ended section were included in this analysis. Student expectations can be categorized into expectations related to educational qualification and their projected future; teaching, learning and assessment; and information technology and communication. We suggest that universities need to take into consideration students’ realistic expectations and manage unrealistic expectations. We also argue that universities need to be cautious in viewing students as consumers in order to function as institutions that generate and disseminate knowledge to students
Formal and Informal Support Systems for Single Women and Single Mothers in Malaysia
No full textThe aim of this paper is to explore how formal and informal supports were being experienced by single women and single mothers in Malaysia. Closely examining formal and informal support systems reported by single mothers and single women in Malaysia, participants generally reported good and were mainly satisfied with their informal support system. Informal support system comprised of mostly family members and friends. However, formal support system was still lacking and both single women and single mothers were more likely to report an “unfriendly” formal support system. Findings provide important policy and theoretical implications suggesting the need for a more gender-sensitive governmental policy and practice
Memahami faktor mempengaruhi emosi: Satu kajian ulasan karya
Full text linkKertas kerja ini membincangkan emosi serta faktor-faktor yang boleh mempengaruhinya dalam konteks kehidupan harian seseorang. Secara umumnya, emosi merupakan sesuatu yang sangat kompleks dan merupakan komponen asas dalam kehidupan.Setiap individu mengalami pelbagai bentuk emosi sepanjang hari dalam pelbagai intensiti.Kertas kerja ini
mengupas teori-teori dan kajian yang telah dijalankan yang berfokus kepada usaha untuk
memahami perkara-perkara yang mempengaruhi dinamik pengalaman emosi seseorang.Perbincangan ini adalah penting untuk mengenalpasti faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan seseorang individu mengalami emosi tertentu dalam intensiti tertentu pada satu-satu situasi dalam kehidupan harian mereka.Kertas kerja ini adalah dalam bentuk ulasan karya dan ia penting sebagai latar belakang kepada kajian yang memberi fokus kepada pengalaman emosi
- …
