Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Sangeeta Trama ¹, Vandana Rana ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala , Punjab, IN

Abstract

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. Research suggests that the aged population suffer from a range of problems, among which health care demands are at the top. As a result, there is increasing focus on the psychological variables, viz., humor and emotion regulation that can promote health (mental as well as physical). 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 with affiliative and self-enhancing humor particularly. The links of suppression with humour/health were, by and large, missing foerboth, elderly males as well as females. It was thought-provoking to find a positive relation between reappraisal and suppression.

Keywords

Humor, Emotion, Regulation, Reappraisal, Suppression

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Sonam Dullat ¹, Sangeeta Trama ²

Affiliations
1 SUS College of Research and Technology Tangori, Mohali, Punjab, IN
2 Department of Psychology Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, IN

Abstract

The productivity of the work force is the most decisive factor as far as the success of an organization is concerned. The productivity in turn is dependent on the psychosocial well-being of the employees. Stress can affect one's health, work performance, social life and the relationship with family members. The stress response is a complex emotion that produces physiological changes to prepare us for fight or flight. To defend ourselves from the threat or flee from it. The stressors and its consequences are to be understood at individual and organizational level. Stress in the workplace has emerged as a major issue for businesses and has reached alarming proportions. Organizations must develop stress prevention as well as stress reduction techniques. This research focuses on practices adopted by organizations to prevent, minimize and to overcome the stress. The study aims at understanding use of yoga, meditation and soothing humor by different organizations as an antidote to workplace stress. 

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Sangeeta Trama ¹, Venus ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala, IN

Abstract

Meaning in life refers to the focus of the individual on the reason for one's existence, and the importance of goal-directed behavior and fulfillment in life. It is an important psychological motivation that is important to human welfare. Meaning in life is important to ascertain how people may become motivated to achieve all that they can achieve in day-to-day life experiences. It seems to be an indicator of a healthy and appreciated life and deserves greater attention in empirical investigations of human functioning. Feeling that one's life is meaningful is important to human functioning (Weinstein&Cleanthous, 1996; Zika&Chambertain, 1992). According to Frankl, meaning can be experienced in three ways, viz., through creative, attitudmal, and experiential values. While earlier work in this field has focused on psychological constructs such as creativity, Frankl's conceptualization brings one construct particularly to the forefront, viz., spiritual transcendence.The spiritual person emerges from the quest for meaning and purpose with confidence. He knows that life is meaningful and that one's own existence has purpose. The content of this meaning vanes from person to person, but the spiritually transcendent person fills the "existential vacuum" with the sense that life has meaning and purpose.These issues become particularly significant during late adulthood. As an individual moves into the middle years, the question of Ms existence becomes significant. According to Erikson, it is a crisis age in which either "generativity" or "stagnation" dominates. The individual who moves towards the attainment of meaning in life experiences generativity, while one who lacks meaning in life moves towards stagnation, i.e., perceiving their lives as coming to a standstill. Such individuals experience an existential vacuum and feel that their life is not meaningful. Hence, it was considered worthwhile to investigate the contribution of spiritual transcendence and generativity towards meaning in life in middle-aged people.The sample of the study comprised 100 adults in the age group of 35-45 years (middle-aged people). Participants were from different urban cities of Punjab in India, and were belonging to upper middle socio-economic status families. The participants were administered the Life Regard Index (LRI; Battista&Almond, 1973), Spiritual Transcendence scale - Short form (Piedmont, 1999a), and the Loyola Generativity Scale (LGS; McAdams&de St. Aubin, 1992). In order to examine the relations among self-actualization, psychosocial maturity, empathy, spiritual transcendence, and meaning in life, inter-correlations were computed, and stepwise multiple regression analyses were applied. The results indicated that the main (positive) predictor of meaning in life at this stage of development seems to be spiritual transcendence, although generativity too, was found to positively predict meaning in life, though marginally. The results also indicated the scope of other variables in predicting meaning in life in late adulthood. Thus, the tendency towards "growth motivation" is a basic "essence" of life. Having a spiritually transcendent orientation may help adults view life from a more objective and larger perspective, making them "see" their "true" meaning or purpose. Hence, the present investigation is a significant step in understanding existential issues empincally, and has very far-reaching implications in the realm of motivation and transpersonal psychology]

Keywords

Meaning in Life, Spiritual Transcendence, Generativity.

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