Relationship Between Resilience and Optimism Among Young Adult Undergraduates: A Cross-Sectional Study in Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology.

Abstract

Young adulthood is an important developmental stage in which individuals must go through a positive trajectory for a healthy and successful life. Young adult undergraduates in Sri Lanka face many stressors and adversities which affect their lives negatively. Therefore, it is important to determine the factors contributing to their resilience. Optimism is a factor that significantly enhances resilience. Moreover, there is a paucity of positive psychological and gender-sensitive research in the Sri Lankan context. In this sense, the present study aims to determine the relationship between psychological resilience and dispositional optimism among young adult undergraduates in Sri Lanka, the gender differences in resilience, and the gender differences in optimism. The instruments used were the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) to measure resilience and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) to measure dispositional optimism. A total of 124 participants were involved in the study. The findings suggest that (a) there is a statistically significant moderately positive relationship between resilience and optimism (b) there are no gender differences in resilience between males and females (c) there are no gender differences in optimism among males and females. Importantly, the research provides practical implications for mental health practitioners, researchers, and positive psychologists to develop gendersensitive interventions to cope with stressors and adversities.