Positive Psychology in India

At the moment, India's school curriculum is mostly concerned on finishing the year's parts, with an emphasis on competing for higher marks than identifying and developing students' qualities and strengths. Children need to get satisfactory outcomes instead of those that are superior (Shwartz, 2004). In comparison to those who are not content, Happiness is characterised by a lack of remorse and a more positive outlook on life. Incredibly high rates of despair and poor overall health are seen among young people all around the globe. By the conclusion of high school, about 20% of them had had a clinical depressive episode (Lewisohn et al, 1993). India's general population has an estimated 6.4 percent prevalence of child and adolescent mental problems based on a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of data collected from school samples (Malhotra & Patra, 2014). As a consequence of causes such as academic stress and unhappiness, peer pressure and dysfunctional family connections, these rates of prevalence are high and the prevalence of negative emotions is low. The current environment creates a framework for Happy Psychology

LITERATURE REVIEW

Anindita Ghosh (2016) Focusing on research and applications, this study aims to offer an overview of positive psychology achievements in India. Since the positive psychology movement began to gain traction in the West in 1998, academics from all over the globe, including India, have been inspired by its strength-based methodology. Research was conducted using several databases, including PsycINFO and Science Direct as well as the grey literature. The study parameters, factors analyzed, and evaluation of positive psychology variables were used to classify pertinent studies. Well-being seems to be the most thoroughly studied part of positive psychology in India, according to the findings of recent studies. There seems to be a rise in interest in other topics as well, such as character qualities and posttraumatic growth. We've laid forth some ideas for the future, such as employing interdisciplinary and multi-method techniques, bridging the gap between Indian psychology and positive psychology, tackling societal challenges in positive psychology research, and making positive psychology more widely available. In doing so, we want to provide a supportive social environment for those with mental health issues. This shows that India's psychology research is now focusing on both prevention and therapy. Dr. Usha Tiwari Upadhyay (2020) Children with Specific Learning Disabilities in Telangana, India, were the focus of this study. The intervention was provided to 75 children, aged 8 to 12, who satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria, in a one-group Affect Schedule an ADHD rating scale, as well as the NIMHANS SLD Index Life Satisfaction Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Indian Children, Brief Multidimensional Adjectives of Gratitude. Three sections of the multi-component Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI), which incorporates mindfulness, attributional style, and gratitude, were developed with an emphasis on the past, present, and future aspects of EWB. Groups based on classes were formed. Twelve weekly group intervention sessions were given to each group. On the success of the intervention, feedback from teachers and students was gathered. Statistical software for the social sciences was used for data analysis (SPSS Version 20.0). According to the study's findings, PPI significantly enhanced the degree of EWB in children with SLD in terms of higher life satisfaction and pleasant feelings, as well as decreased negative feelings. The impact persisted even after a 6-month follow-up investigation. Conclusion: The results of this research suggest this multicomponent PPI as an effective strategy for enhancing children with SLD's emotional wellbeing over the long term. A positive psychology intervention programme would benefit both pupils with special needs and those without. Urvashi Anand (2014) The amount of research on adult mindfulness-based techniques has increased significantly during the last 20 years. However, little is understood about how such treatments affect teenagers. The purpose of this research was to determine if a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program may be effective in lowering stress levels and improving wellbeing among teenagers who were enrolled in a school context. There were 33 participants in all, ranging in age from 13 to 15 years old, from class IX. Sessions lasted 40 minutes each and were conducted during school hours for a total of eight weeks. A variety of instruments were used, including the School-Based Well-being Index, a Weekly Meditation Form, and an Intervention Feedback Form. An evaluation was done three times: before to, during, and three months following. Current research shows that the MBSR programme significantly reduces physical and emotional symptoms of stress, academic stress, and peer-related stress, and improves academic self-concept and health. Developing self-awareness required a lot of hard work and repetition. The results show that the intervention is feasible and acceptable to teens. Jeffrey J. Froh (2014) To have a healthy social life and to feel grateful. Only two thankfulness treatments in youth, mostly aimed at teenagers, have been done, despite recent growth in research with young populations. In the present study, we evaluated a novel strategy for cultivating thankfulness in the youngest target populations. Randomly chosen elementary school classes (8 to 11-year-olds) were placed in either a control condition or an intervention that taught kids how to evaluate benefit swaps. We them to be more appreciative and improves their wellbeing by raising their level of overall pleasant affect. Evidence from a daily experiment showed that this new strategy quickly elicited appreciation and encouraged kids to express it more behaviorally. Thus, the efficacy of this intervention was supported by the evidence. The ramifications of the findings for healthy youth development and academic performance are examined. Pulkit Khanna (2014) The present study's goal was to learn more about how students thought about the effectiveness of positive psychology therapies. 900 students from classes VI through VIII in private and public schools in North India took part in one of four classroom-based interventions. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather qualitative information on how participants felt about the intervention program at the time of the post-testing. It was discovered that the majority of students enjoyed and benefited from their involvement in the interventions. They expressed gratitude for the chance to discover more about themselves, to voice their concerns and ideas, and their readiness to participate in the future. However, participants did not like participating in the written portions of the program or attending such events at the expense of missing their regularly planned courses or activities. These results may aid in the process of creating treatments that are more relevant and tailored to the requirements of the intended participants. Positive Psychology The scientific study of wellbeing and ideal human functioning is known as positive psychology. Since Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) advocated for a new emphasis on positive aspects of human functioning within the social sciences, the discipline has swiftly evolved and is now recognised as a major and constantly evolving area of study and practise. Strengths and virtues, as well as psychological deficits, are the focus of positive psychology, which aims to combine proactive growth with rehabilitation. There are three components to happiness, according to Seligman: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. It is possible for people to be content with their lives if they have a positive view of their history, present, and future. The engaged life is one in which a person is totally engaged in all aspects of their life, including love, work, and play. The concept of a satisfying life is to utilize one's abilities for the benefit of a higher cause than oneself. Subjective Well- Being Subjective well-being, as defined by science, is a combination of one's assessment of one's own thoughts and feelings about one's own life and experiences. Positivity, a lack of negative

positive affect, often negative affect, and level of life satisfaction—makes up this composite. Global life satisfaction (LS), as described by Diener (1994), is a person's cognitive assessment of their overall level of contentment with their life. Positive affect: Positive affect (PA) is a situationally confined positive feeling, according to Diener (1994). Situationally bound negative emotions are what Diener (1994) described as negative affect (NA). Life Satisfaction Global Life Satisfaction (GLS) is a person's cognitive assessment of how satisfied they are with their overall quality of life (Diener., 1994) Academic success is crucial between infancy and adolescence since, in today's world, both successes and failures in school impact a person's future academic career and employment prospects. Fordyce (1977, 1983) reviewed and published various research that demonstrated that positive psychology interventions might increase happiness (PPI).Performance of an individual indicates overall life pleasure. The performance of students and life satisfaction. According to Rode et al., life happiness affects students' performance in both statistical and practical ways. According to longitudinal research, there may be a positive feedback relationship between academic performance and life happiness, meaning that higher accomplishment scores may lead to greater life satisfaction, which in turn encourages students to work harder on their grades. Sandal and others. According to global research, having happy emotions is more closely correlated with life happiness than not having any negative feelings (Kappen‘s, Peter; Reloan; Diener, Ed, 2008). Increases in resilience and life satisfaction were predicted by positive emotions. Positive emotions had their advantages unaffected by negative emotions, which had little or no impacts. (Michael Cohn et al., 2009) Affect/Emotions Psychologists refer to a person's experience of their emotions as having an effect. Usually, emotions start when a person evaluates the personal significance of somean earlier occurrence This was described as a personal environment, interaction, or adaption encounter by Lazarus (1991). Studies of affect frequently focus on a given instant in time and may be seen as assessments of certain emotions or emotional states. These measurements record how individuals really live, not how they remember it. There are at least two distinct hedonic dimensions to affect, both of which may be used to describe a person's overall judgement of their life. These are positive affect and negative affect. Positive emotions including feelings of pleasure, joy, and satisfaction are captured by positive affect. On the other side, negative affect refers to the generates a sequence of reaction inclinations that present themselves in loosely related systems including subjective experience, facial expressions, and physiological changes; in other words, physiological changes and specific action tendencies are complementary in their nature. 1. Negative mental state: A negative mental state includes feelings of hatred, rage, jealously, and melancholy and is less than neutral. The secret to emotions is linked to certain action inclinations (Frieda, 1986; Frijda et al., 1989). For instance, the drive to flee, assault, or eject is correlated with feelings of fear, wrath, and disgust, respectively. (2004) FredricksonExtreme, protracted, or inappropriately timed negative emotions may lead to a variety of serious issues for both people and society, melancholy and suicidal ideation as well as a variety of stress-related illnesses, such as phobias and anxiety disorders. Unpleasant peer pressure, physical punishment, school bullying, and lack of self-satisfaction with academic performance are all frequent causes of negative feelings. Researchers in Raipur, India, studied 321 students from various educational boards and found that these characteristics were strongly associated with depression. This was true for students from all educational boards, regardless of where they studied, what they studied, or their family's socioeconomic status. The study's objective was to determine how common depression was among schoolchildren. According to the data, academic discontent, peer pressure, and strained family ties were the main causes of moderate depression in 40.49 percent of respondents and significant depression in 19 percent (Verma, Jain, & Roy, 2014). The research demonstrated that negative rumination may be one of the causes of low hope students' increased anxiety and propensity to get distracted by negative thoughts about themselves while taking the exam (Onwuegbuzie & Snyder, 2000). In Tamil Nadu, India, upper secondary schools were studied cross-sectionally to evaluate the connection between scholastic stress and depression in young people. Of the 2,432 students surveyed, 1,224 had mild to major depression. According to further research using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), among the Cases Involved (CI), those who reported experiencing academic stress had 2.4 times (P0.001) greater likelihood of developing clinical depression than those who did not.When good emotions are scarce, fear restricts cognitive function and often enhances human tendency to avoid action (Fredrickson, 2004).Over the years, psychology has concentrated on finding a solution to the issue, eliminating problematic behavior, and filling the gap. In contrast, Positive psychology focuses on 2. Positive mental state: When people feel pleasure, curiosity, satisfaction, and love, their mental state is more than neutral. Individuals are motivated to keep going down whatever course of thought or activity they have already started by free-floating good feelings. The need to play, explore, and savor comes from the positive emotions of joy and interest. The want to savor and integrate comes from contentment, while the urge to play, explore, and fall in love comes from the positive emotion of love. 3. Research Studies on Effect of Positive Emotions: Through action repertoires, uplifting feelings may be expanded. According to Khan and Isan‘s research, good affect enhances a person's desire for diversity and acceptance of a wider range of behavioral alternatives. In experimental research, when people are experiencing pleasure and happiness, they are more likely to behave ethically than those who are experiencing fear or fury, according to Fredrickson and Branigan (2005). 4. Positive emotions undo lingering negative emotions: Happiness, unfavourable emotions are claimed to be able to be reversed by it. In previous studies on anxiety disorders, it has been shown that positive and negative emotions cannot exist in the same person. The specific mechanism causing this mismatch has not yet been discovered. Positive emotions may have a wider range of functions, which can help by expanding a person's repertoire of fleeting thoughts and actions. As a consequence, the person's grip on the unpleasant feeling would be loosened by the happy emotion. Increased cardiovascular activity is one indicator of the particular action patterns linked to unpleasant emotions. FredricksonBranigan (2005) examined this theory and discovered that moderate pleasure and contentment, two different positive emotion kinds, both have the power to reverse the lingering cardiovascular consequences of emotions. 5. Positive emotions fuel psychological resiliency: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity, which implies that more resilient people will recover from a high-activation unpleasant feeling more quickly than less resilient people. This theory was explored by Togaed& Fredrickson (2004), who discovered that variations in positive emotions might explain for the fact that resilient individuals recovered their cardiovascular function more quickly. After the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, a prospective field research of American university students yielded consistent results. Many studies have shown that people who are resilient tend to have a good attitude on life, are curious and open to new experiences, and have a high degree of positive emotions. Many people use the coping method of cultivating a positive emotion such as amusement, contentment or optimism in order to deal with stressful situations. examined this theory in 2004 and discovered that individuals who perceived positive meaning and purpose in their everyday experiences—the greatest, worst, and apparently average ones—showed greater levels of resilience than those who did not. This is a statement on how individuals may start to maximize their personal wellbeing by using the favorable impacts of pleasant emotions. 7. Positive Emotions fuel Psychological and Physical Well Being: Expanding one's thinking and increasing one's chances of finding positive meaning in future situations are not the only benefits of finding good meaning. This reciprocal relationship between positive meaning and happy emotions is well accepted. (Fredriksson, 2004). People's psychological resilience is subsequently increased, which improves their subjective well-being. It interrupts the downward cycle that depression creates and increases the upward spiral. Fredriksson put this to the test.Positive emotions have a long-term impact on one's well-being, but they also boost the chance of performing well and feeling well in the future by widening thinking and accumulating resources, according to Joiner & Co.'s (2002) research.According to Williams and Shaw (1999), persons who are happy tend to be more cooperative, philanthropic, and pro-social. People who are content with their lives are more able to control their emotions, deal with challenges, and have better immune systems. Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI) "Programs, practices, treatment approaches, or activities targeted at promoting good sentiments, cognition, and behavior" are how they are described (Sin &LiuMirsky, 2009). According to the PERMA Model, Emotional well-being, active participation, meaningful relationships, and a sense of accomplishment should be the primary objectives of PPIs. Negative approaches to well-being, on the other hand, are meant to be replaced by more positive ones. It's a process of removing the bad and replacing it with good. To participate, one must have a genuine desire to help others. Due to schools' growing importance in helping children develop cognitive, emotional, and social skills, PPI should be included into the school curriculum. This will provide students with engaging learning opportunities that will encourage thriving achievement. 1. Cultivates hope: "The process of thinking about one's objective, together with desire to move towards goals (agency) & the technique to reach those goals," according to Snyder (1995), (pathways). According to Webjet&Sender‘s (2000) research, which looked at the connection between graduate students' study and test-taking tactics and their level of hope, a high level of hope is positively connected with better grades. When confronted with

week hope-based intervention on middle school pupils was evaluated by Marques, Lopez, and Pais- Ribeiro (2011). The intervention group's optimism, contentment with life, and sense of self-worth had significantly improved by the time of the post-test. They claimed that a short hope intervention given in the classroom may improve wellbeing and that these advantages would continue for a long time. 2. Gratitude: According to the definition of gratitude, it is "a feeling of happy thanksgiving in reaction to receiving a gift, whether the present is a concrete benefit from a particular person or a fleeting blissful moment produced by natural beauty". Three groups—gratitude, haste, and control—were used in an intervention on counting blessings that was done with sixth- and seventh-graders. In the group that focused on appreciation, students were instructed to keep a gratitude notebook. Five items that sparked or irritated the hustle group were requested to be recorded in a diary. Students in the thankfulness group scored better on measures of gratitude, optimism, and life satisfaction than students in the rush or control groups, according to the results of the post-test. 3. Serenity: A sense of tranquility, quiet, and calmness. According to Fredrickson (2009), tranquility is among the top ten pleasant feelings. According to research, many pupils do not experience any serenity or tranquility while they are in school. According to studies on the advantages of serenity, this state promotes insight production, increased attention, decrease of anxiety and stress, and an increase in empathy are all benefits of meditation. Meditation, which is the practise of often focusing one's attention on a single item as a point of focus is one recognized method of fostering the beneficial feeling of tranquility (Campion & Rocco, 2009). Being mindful is paying attention to the current moment without judgment or from the inside out (Kabat-Zinn, 1994; Broderick & Melz, 2009). In order to conduct this study, researchers employed six mindfulness training sessions with students in a school's health curriculum. The children were divided into two groups: a control and a training one. The training group had less negative affect and more peace, relaxation, and acceptance of oneself after the intervention than the control group. 4. Resilience: The capability and ability to bounce again are traits of resilience. If you have a positive outlook, you're more likely to bounce back from adversity, while still being able to seek out opportunities for growth. Students who complete the Penn Resiliency Program learn skills such as self-advocacy, stress-reduction, problem-solving, and cognitive healing. It has been used by students between the ages of 8 and 15. In seventeen studies comparing PRP to a control group, 2,000 students 5. Character strengths: Strengths of character are described as "pre-existing characteristics that emerge spontaneously, seem genuine, are inherently inspiring to utilize, and are stimulating" (Brdar & Kashdan, 2010). Higher grade point averages (G.P.A.) were significantly predicted by the character virtues of perseverance, justice, thankfulness, honesty, hope, and perspective (Park & Peterson, 2007). The USA-developed Strathhaven Positive Psychology curriculum is built on 24-character qualities. Twenty to twenty-five classes make up the VIA framework, which teaches the techniques needed to elicit happy feelings and enables pupils to recognize and play to their own character strengths. Seligman evaluated the course and found that anxiety and sadness had not decreased, despite growth in qualities related with creativity and joy of learning. Researchers have shown that hopeful college students do better academically and are more likely to graduate than those with low levels of hope. Those with greater degrees of hope have backup plans and are more prepared to ask for help to put alternate plans into action when confronted with difficulties or barriers in achieving their objectives. 6. Increases life satisfaction: A study focused on enhancing pleasant emotions by P.P. Sanghani Upadhya and Sharma (2013) was undertaken in an Indian center for positive psychology. Parents saw a significant improvement in their children after I demonstrated an increase in their life happiness. Additionally, research offered many compelling arguments for why teaching on well-being in schools is necessary, not to mention the current depressive pandemic and the apparent growth in well-being and contentment over the previous two generations; It might alleviate depression, which is on the rise, and increase overall well-being, and a help for greater learning and more original thought. (2015) Sanghani, Arya, Mare, and Ahuja Critique The hedonistic quest of pleasure is disregarded in positive psychology. It seems that the self-help book may help the individual achieve his or her goals, yet social status and acknowledgment may out to be deceptive. (Miller, 2008).Emotion is purposeful and has a goal. For example, A is not just furious; she is angry towards someone. B is joyful for other reasons than the fact that he did well on a test. Diverse assessment methods result in different feelings in people. Both positive and negative emotions are capable of coexistinghave pleasant feelings about one occurrence and negative feelings about another. A person's capacity for important behaviors like labor might lead to variety and shallow understanding. Being content might lead to complacency and laziness. It is necessary to do further empirical study to confirm the happy emotions' good effects. Positive emotions may sometimes cause issues, especially if they are caused by drugs or mania. People are often motivated to go above and beyond by sensory pleasures, which may lead to addiction issues if they include alcohol or other drugs. Positive feelings are not something that people can always keep up. The genuine and true situations must be considered. Subjective well-being and life satisfaction are greatly influenced by positive emotions. Both the elimination of harmful elements and the encouragement of beneficial elements are essential for success and thriving. Positive emotions have the power to make people healthier, more socially involved, integrated, and resilient creatures over time, according to the Broaden and Build Effect of Positive Emotions. However, in the twenty-first century, education is seen as a means of empowering students holistically in terms of social, emotional, moral, and intellectual development. For the discipline of education, positive psychology has a lot of potential. As a result of these findings, educators will be more inclined to include Positive Psychology Interventions into their lessons going forward.

CONCLUSION

Because Positive Psychology is based on evolutionary and Humanistic Psychology rather than hedonistic pursuit of pleasures, it appears to be a self-help guide, rather than a science-based approach to improving one's well-being. Academic success, engagement, and well-being are all positively associated. The core of education is in human interactions, as well put by Cummins (1996). More important to students' success than any approach to teaching math, science, or literature are the connections they have with one another and with their professors. It is possible to overcome the economic and social problems that schools and communities face when teachers and students form close bonds. It's easier for students to succeed in school when they have instructors who care about them and who have high expectations for their conduct. It is a primary objective of school-based mental health promotion to provide kids a broad variety of educational opportunities and resources. Encouraging social and emotional development, reducing emotional and behavioural problems, and enhancing the environment, seeing issues early and taking action, and providing assistance for ongoing issues are some of these (Weist and Murray, 2008). However, the essential premise of all educational theories in the twenty-first century is the need of educating students holistically, including their social, emotional, moral, and intellectual well-being.For the discipline of education, positive psychology has a lot of

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