The aim of the seminar was to discuss and promote the recent developments in the field of positive psychology and to catch a glimpse of the probable ramifications of positivity in various aspects of life. The seminar was inaugurated in gracious presence of the Chief Guest – Dr. Girishwar Mishra, Vice Chancellor, Mahatama Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha and the Guest of Honor- Prof. (Dr.) Promila Batra, HOD, Dept. of Psychology, Mahrishi Dayanand Univeristy, Rohtak.
In his opening remarks, Lt Gen. V. K. Sharma, AVSM (Retd.), Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, AUMP said that the youth today is under tremendous stress due to not only academic pressure, but also peer pressure and parental pressure to perform well and competic. Their behaviour needs to maintain balance, which can best be done through Positive Psychology. He further briefed about World Happiness Index 2018 released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in which in year India was ranked 133rd among 156 countries and has slipped 11 places as it was placed 122nd last year. He stressed that it’s unfortunate that we as a nation are behind the majority of SAARC nations.
In his inaugural address Dr. Girishwar Mishra shared his views on the various aspects of positive psychology with the gathering. He spoke about the beginning of positive psychology as a discipline and threw light on how Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, worked through ‘learned helplessness’ and finally ended up with a new area called ‘Positive Psychology’ that focuses on healthy states like happiness, strength, resilience etc. He further briefed that roots of positive psychology lie in Indian Vedas, Upnishads, Purans, Bhagvad Gita etc. He emphasized that positive emotions have the power to undo the effects of negative emotions. He ended his address by talking about happiness and shared his personal experience of finding happiness within self and not running behind it.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Promila said that human values and virtues in the Indian culture are the only approach of living a happy life. These virtues included gratitude, hope, justice, humor, transcendence, courage, creativity etc. She further talked about the importance of positive parenting and positive schooling for enhancing the self-esteem of young individuals. She quoted many real life examples with the objective showcasing the significance of human values in life.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. (Dr.) Umed Singh, Department of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra highlighted about the Indian background of positive psychology in his invited talk during afternoon session. He gave testimonies of how positive psychology is entirely rooted in Indian Philosophy. He further brought the attention of gathering to the fact that only positivity cannot prevail in life, equal attention must be given to negative aspects of our life as well. He advised increased focus on scientific approach for development of positive psychology as a discipline.
Sharing her views on ‘Application of Positive Psychology in Daily Life’, Dr. Nishi Mishra, Scientist 'F', DIPR, DRDO, New Delhi said that we should focus on maximizing the positive emotions and minimizing the negative ones in our day-to-day life. She even mentioned about methods like diary writing, self-talk, letter to self etc to know about our emotions and express our imagination.
Prof. (Dr.) M.P. Kaushik, Pro Vice-Chancellor; Prof. (Dr.) R.S. Tomar, Dean (Academics); Prof. (Dr.) S.P. Bajpai, Dean (Research), Dr. Atul Agarwal, Associate Professor and HOD, Dept. of Psychiatry, Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior; Dr. Arun Pratap Singh, Dept. of Psychology, School of Education, MGAH University, Wardha were also present in the seminar.
The seminar was attended by more than 100 participants from the various places of India. Only 16 research articles/papers were selected for publication in the seminar proceeding after peer review by the scientific committee. On the occasion, Best Paper Award was conferred upon Ms. Somya Singh, UG student of Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Bhopal.
The seminar presented a great opportunity to create a multidisciplinary platform for researchers and experts to address various issues on positive psychology. The seminar met its objectives in promoting awareness and ardent demand for the new subset of Psychology in this revolting time, and familiarizing the delegates/research scholars with the current developments and potential possibilities in the area of positive psychology.