Optimism and Life Satisfaction Among Young Indian Adults: A Correlational Study

Abstract

Background: Optimism (OP) is defined as a mental attitude characterized by hope and confidence in success and a positive future. Life satisfaction (LS) refers to an individual’s overall assessment of their quality of life. Their predictive relationship remains relatively underexplored among the Indian young adult population. Aim: This study investigates the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction in young adults. Methods: A correlational design was used on a sample of 200 participants (59% females and 41% males) aged between 18 to 25. The data was collected through an online questionnaire. The self-report measures of Life Orientation Test – Revised (Scheier, M.F., Carver C.S., and Bridges, M.W., 1994) and Satisfaction with Life scale (Diener et al, 1985; Pavot & Diener, 1993) were used to measure OP and LS respectively. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and linear regression analyses. Results: The mean of OP is 20.88 and LS is 12.82 and Standard deviation was 6.041 and 3.804 respectively. Optimism was positively and significantly correlated with life satisfaction (r = 0.332, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between the two variables. Higher levels of optimism were positively correlated with greater life satisfaction, indicating that individuals with higher levels of optimism reported greater overall life satisfaction. This suggests that a positive outlook may enhance subjective well-being in young adults. These results highlight the potential benefits of fostering optimism as a strategy to promote life satisfaction in this age group. Future studies could investigate how factors like academic stress, family support, and social relationships moderate the link between optimism and life satisfaction.