Advancing Positive Psychology In South East Asia: The Importance of Culture

Abstract Interest 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 person’s well-being and success as experienced within that particular society. Based on some findings from a research of adolescent’s 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, and  cultur

Advancing Positive Psychology In South East Asia: The Importance of Culture

Abstract Interest 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 person’s well-being and success as experienced within that particular society. Based on some findings from a research of adolescent’s 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, and  cultur

Character Strengths and Positive Outcomes

Character 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

Self-Compassion, Social Connectedness And Self-Regulation Of Health Behaviour: A Preliminary Study On Local Undergraduates In Malaysia

Self-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

Developing A Local-Based Theoretical Understanding Of Domestic Violence Against Wives

By 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

The 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

TEACHERS’ WELLBEING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A REVIEW

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 outbreak has added plenty of new pressures for teachers, including difficulties associated with the sudden switch to digital learning. Teachers, as frontline educators, have faced numerous obstacles since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic. In recent years, educational environments have placed a greater emphasis on teacher wellbeing. To better understand teacher wellbeing during this crisis and inform strategies that support them, this study examined recent research on teacher wellbeing. Researchers retrieved and analysed studies on teacher wellbeing from Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The findings indicated that teachers experienced a significant level of stress and anxiety. In addition, the study showed the best coping mechanisms for teachers in order to adjust to new circumstances. Finally, recommendations for further research are made, as are the implications. Keywords: wellbeing, pandemic, Covid-19, teache

Exploring Women’s Relationships: An analysis of Malaysian Women’s Lifestyle Magazines

This study presented content analysis of two women’s lifestyle magazines for the period of January until June 2016. Combining media studies and relationship research, this paper examined cover pages and cover stories of two highly popular and widely circulated women’s lifestyle magazines in Malaysia; Nona and Wanita. Preliminary analysis indicated women who appeared in the cover page and cover story of the two magazines were attractive, successful and that they held prominent positions within society. They included businesswomen, actresses and politicians/activists. Women’s relationships, as portrayed in these magazines, comprised of children, husbands and family and this is consistent with their private roles as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. From the analysis, women in the cover pages of these two magazines continued to be presented in traditional and patriarchal gender roles including being nurturant and submissive with an emphasis on their sexuality. This is in spite of them holding non-traditional roles as providers and representing success stories of women in public domain. The analysis provided supports that gender roles and cultural expectations continue to influence people’s social experiences. In addition, these gender roles cultural expectations also shape and at the same time enhanced by the representations in the media

Faktor yang mempengaruhi emosi: fokus kepada ibadah haji di Arab Saudi

Emotions are one of the important components that play a vital role in the daily life of man. Emotions play a role in determining the quality of human life, influencing people in decision making, social interactions and behavioral patterns in the environment. Although many studies have been conducted on emotion, studies that study emotions in spiritual contexts are still limited in the field of research. Therefore, this study examines how emotions are influenced by certain factors in the context of pilgrimage. More specifically, this study investigates emotional issues in the context of pilgrimage. To achieve this research objective, a qualitative study using an exploratory approach was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the study involved five participants who completed the selected diary notes for the selected ten days while performing their Hajj worship in Saudi Arabia. The second phase involved 53 participants who completed the open questionnaire for a maximum of six months after returning from performing the pilgrimage. The results of this study were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that the emotional experiences during the pilgrimage are varied and are motivated by various factors such as location of worship, activities such as spiritual activities and daily activities, health factors, and social interactions as well as struggles of religiosity and spirituality. The findings of this study detail not only the type of emotion experienced but also the types of factors that may contribute to the development of these emotions. The findings of this study help researchers to better understand the emotional experiences during the pilgrimage

Experiences Of Crime Amongst Youth From A Gender Perspective: A Preliminary Analysis

Crime index in Malaysia has increased significantly over the years. There is an emerging trend today of juvenile involvement in crime and other social ills. Juvenile crime involving children aged 12 to 17 years experiences a 47% increment. There is also a notable increase of female juveniles in Malaysia. This paper contributes to the understandings of factors motivating criminal behaviour amongst youths by making a preliminary analysis of male and female juveniles’ experiences in Malaysia. Face to face indepth interviews were applied in the study that becomes the basis of this paper. The participants were residents of two rehabilitative facilities for juveniles in the Penang and Kedah, two northern states of Malaysia. This study of 37 male and 19 female juvenile offenders find that there are noteworthy gender differences in the whole experiences of serving incarceration at their respective schools. Preliminary analysis indicated several gender differences of male and female in overall referral rates to juvenile court, type of crime they committed, and level of violent offences. From the interviews, the study preliminarily finds that common narratives demonstrate male and female similarities in terms of factors leading them to the commission of crime. Female offenders, like male offenders tend to come from background marked by disadvantaged economic conditions, poor schooling and lack of attention from parents and/ or guardians. However, boys and girls may articulate their contexts of existing and desired support in different manners. This preliminary analysis can be the basis for rethinking further data gathering on juvenile delinquency issues and further strategies for intervention that may help rebuild juveniles’ senses wellbeing