Optimism and Psychological Well-Being among Yoga Practitioners

Abstract

Psychology is the science of behavior and mind, including consciousness and unconsciousness phenomena, as well as thought. The emerging field of positive psychology studies the positive impact that optimism has on mental health. Being optimistic, in the typical sense of the word, is defined as expecting the best possible outcome from any given situation. Psychological well-being refers to the simple notion of a person’s welfare, happiness, advantages, interests, utility and quality of life. The main objective of the present study is to compare Optimism and Psychological Well-being in people who practice yoga and who do not practice yoga. Random sampling technique was used. A sample size of 30 yoga-practicing and 30 non-yoga-practicing people was selected for the present study. The tools used for data collection were, the Life Orientation Test – Revised (Scheier & Carver, 1985) and Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well- Being (RSPWB). Independent sample t-test was used for the analysis of data. The results show that optimism and psychological well-being were found to be higher for yoga practitioners.