MARIAM.KHAWAR@IAC.EDU.PK
MARIAM KHAWAR
Hope, Optimism and
Positive Psychology
The soft skill that assists
individuals in adopting
positive mindsets in their
personal and professional
lives is optimism. The
"glass-half-full" metaphor
is the most commonly
used to explain optimism. Optimism is a mental
state marked by hope and condence in success
and a bright future. Optimists anticipate positive
outcomes, whereas pessimists anticipate nega-
tive outcomes. Optimism is the key to maximize
one’s success while minimizing his/her failures.
It's benecial to look honestly at your shortcom-
ings, so you can work on them, but focusing on
your strengths can never hurt. Keep in mind that
the more you practice challenging your thought
patterns, the more automatic it'll become.
Positive and negative expectations for the
future are crucial in realizing the vulnerability to
psychological problems as well as physical
illness. Negative events tend to roll o your
back, whereas positive events reinforce your
belief in yourself, your ability to make good
things happen now and, in the future, and in the
goodness of life. There is a signicant positive
relationship between optimism and coping
strategies that emphasize social support and the
positive aspects of stressful situations. Optimism
can have a signicant impact on mental and
physical well-being. Promoting a healthy
lifestyle, adaptive behaviours and cognitive
responses associated with greater exibility can
therefore develop problem solving ability.
Hope is a construct which closely relates to opti-
mism, although the two are not identical. Rick
Snyder, one of the leading specialists in hope,
represents it as an ability to conceptualize goals,
nd pathways to these goals despite obstacles
and have the motivation to use those pathways.
To put it more simply, we feel hope if we know
what we want, we can think of a range of ways to
get there and to start or keep on going.
It’s not hard to guess that being hopeful brings
about many benets. For example, we know
that hope buers against interfering, zself-dep-
recatory thoughts and negative emotions, and is
critical for psychological health. In the domain
of physical health, we know that people who are
hopeful focus more on the prevention of diseas-
es (e.g. through exercising).
Overall, Individuals with higher levels of hope
0202
Empirical Research:
"The Impact of Gratitude Journaling on Mental
Well-being of College Students"
Student’s Testimonial
MAHTABCHEEMA28@GMAIL.COM
MAHTAB CHEEMA
The Well-Being Center at IAC has been my safe
place at the university where I feel understood
and supported. The counselors are incredibly
empathetic and approachable, creating a safe
space where I can openly discuss my concerns
and challenges. Their guidance has been invaluable in helping me navigate the ups and downs of my
academic life. From managing stress to coping with personal issues, the Well-Being Center has
equipped me with the tools and resources I need to thrive. I am immensely grateful for the unwaver-
“The aim of positive psychology is to
begin to catalyze a change in the focus
of psychology from preoccupation
only with repairing the worst things in
life to also building positive qualities.”
Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi
are more successful in their performance. This means they are more optimistic regarding their future
and that they see hope as a goal-pursuit thinking that causes motivation.
Achievement is often discussed among individ-
uals, but usually only in the terms of who gets
the highest grades or who performed best in
his/her task. For dierent individuals, success
and achievement can take many forms. Setting
clear goals in developing and persevering will
allow us to focus more on our own progress and
develop a stronger sense of well-being.
In positive psychology, achievement implies
more than just getting the highest score. Indi-
viduals will feel a sense of accomplishment
when they can see their own progress in learn-
ing and mastering a subject or skill. To accom-
plish this, a redenition of success and achieve-
ment is required to shift the emphasis away
from getting the highest marks on any task to
self-satisfaction. For example, completing a di-
cult task is an achievement, whether or not you
receive the highest marks; it is an achievement
just to complete that task.
It is vital for individuals to set personal goals for
their achievements. These goals should align
with one’s capabilities, interests, and skills.
Setting unrealistic goals can lead to disappoint-
ment, while setting goals according to one's
potential enhances interest and boosts motiva-
tion. To set these goals and understand one’s
capabilities, soft skills training is essential (Soft
skills are non-technical attributes that relate to
how people work).
Soft skills are in fact healthy supporters of com-
munication and performance. They are recog-
nized as connectors that build the gap and
bridge relationships among people, enriched
productivity and performance.
Soft skills reduce the gaps across various depart-
ments in an organization, thus promoting eec-
tive communication and performance. Positive
psychology focuses on topics that are included
in soft skills training such as achievement, life
satisfaction, happiness etc.
Hence, achievement is not limited to performing
your best; it is also about how you celebrate
each accomplishment or success.
Research Question:
Does regular gratitude journaling aect the
mental well-being of college students?
Statistical Findings
• According to a study published in the Journal
of Happiness Studies, individuals who engaged
in gratitude journaling reported higher levels of
life satisfaction and positive aect (Emmons &
McCullough, 2003).
• Another study in the Journal of Positive
Psychology found that gratitude journaling was
associated with reduced symptoms of depres-
sion and increased levels of happiness in college
students (Seligman et al., 2005).
• Research published in Psychological Science
demonstrated that individuals who kept a grati-
tude journal for just three weeks experienced
signicant increases in optimism and positive
mood compared to those who did not (Lyubom-
irsky et al., 2005).
• A meta-analysis of 39 studies, published in
Clinical Psychology Review, concluded that
practicing gratitude was consistently associated
with greater psychological well-being, including
reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety
(Wood et al., 2010).
These statistics provide empirical evidence
supporting the potential benets of gratitude
journaling on mental well-being, which could be
further investigated through a longitudinal
study focusing on college students.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND SENSE OF
ACHIEVEMENT
AYESHA.PERVEZ@IAC.EDU.PK
Susan C. Young
“Did you once have a grand plan which has become obsolete and no longer serves you? If
there are areas in your life which must change to help you create better results, a redesign
may be in order. Consider going back to the ‘drawing board’ to deconstruct what isn’t
working and start anew.”
AYESHA PERVEZ
ing support I've received from the Well-Being
Center team. It's truly a pillar of strength for
students like me, and I cannot imagine my
university life without it.