Exploring Psychological Capital as Predictor of Mental Health among Graduate-Level Students

Abstract

Developments in positive psychology paved the way for shifting the focus from the weaknesses and deficits to the individuals’ strengths and resources. These developments gave impetus to the research exploring the predictors of the mental well-being of students. The role of psychological capital in students’ mental well-being is an expansion of Luthans and associates’ research in an organisational setting. The present study focused on PsyCap as a resource that can impact the mental well-being of students.  The current investigation’s primary aim was to examine the predictive relationship of Psychological Capital with undergraduate students’ mental health. For this purpose, 400 participants (200 males and 200 females) were randomly selected from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Out of 400 participants, 321 completed the questionnaires, and 79 participants who did not meet the questionnaires were not included in the study. A cross-sectional, exploratory study survey method was used to collect and analyse results; descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression analyses were done. The study results indicated that the dimensions of PsyCap such as hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism (HERO) were correlated with the mental health of the graduate students, and there was a positive predictive relationship between PsyCap and mental health.