Psychological Capital

Psychological Capital

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Based on the work in the field of positive Organizational Behaviour (POB), Psychological Capital (PsyCap) are all the positive factors that influences people's perception of happiness. Again, PsyCap is composed of four inter-related constructs. This has been supported by research over the last 20 years or so. These are:

Hope: Not simply the hope for a better future but hope creates a very strong will (willpower) and there is a clear idea of how to achieve that goal (way-power).

Optimism: Based on the work of Seligman, we know that optimism is how we deal with negative events. Specifically, we see such events as temporary and specific.

Resilience: This is the ability to bounce back.

Self-efficacy: This is the belief that we can do specific things (like drive a car or manage people). Self-efficacy often occurs because in the past, we have done something before or we have watched other people do something before.

From an Islamic perspective, my understanding is that a correct understanding of Islam precedes PsyCap. The Islamic belief system and the correct knowledge of Islam allows Muslims to be hopeful, optimistic, resilient and able to get things done. Specific skills (like goals setting, time management, ABCD,....) can help but the core has to be Islamic. That would mean that

Correct Islamic core (belief and knowledge) leads to PsyCap which leads to happiness.

Defining happiness

Defining happiness

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Defining Happiness

When I started this project, I had an intuitive understanding of happiness. However, I have recently read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow". This researcher has been investigating happiness scientifically by interviewing thousands of people.

Here is a synopsis of his book:
a) We cannot control our external environment. We can only control our inner experiences.
b) Happiness is not about relaxing. It is about setting ambitious but realistic goals and trying our level best to achieve them. If the goals are too easy, we come bored. If they are too difficult, we become anxious.
C) By controlling the content of our consciousness, we can focus on achieving our personal goals. The only danger to our happiness is that outside events (other people's perceptions and behaviour) distracts us from our goals.

Probably one of the most subjective discussion is the distinction between social goals (i.e. goals imposed by the society, employers or the family) and personal goals. Csikszentmihaly argues that we must take into account some of these social goals but we still need to blend our own personal goals.

Lastly, Csikszentmihaly concludes that people can only be happy if they can turn life into something meaningful and this is only possible if people "dedicate themselves to a course greater than themselves."

From an Islamic perspective, this is my understanding. You will never be a happy Muslim by doing the rituals of Islam due to social pressure and / or family pressure. At the end of the day, you need to practice Islam because you make it your PERSONAL goal. You commit yourself to improving your knowledge of Islam because you are motivated by something greater than yourself - namely the worship of Allah SWT alone, without associating any partners with Him. More importantly, your understanding of Islam does not depend on the society's understanding or your family's understanding. Your understanding of Islam is based on the explanations given by the Prophet (SAW) as explained by the scholars. When there is a clash between Islam practiced in the society and Islam taught by the Prophet (SAW), the only logical thing is to follow the clear teachings of the Prophet (SAW). Do not be surprised if people around you get upset with you. Throughout history, the majority of people have always followed their nafs but following the Prophet (SAW) requires controlling our nafs.....

There is a side-point that I believe is important. We tend to think of "remembering Allah" as a passive activity to do when we are in the Masjid or at home. However, Csikszentmihaly makes it clear that happiness is about being fully engaged in doing something difficult. It is about being active. It is about being involved in the society, actively making it a better place......

Re testing MGT2010 (sem 2 2010 2011)

Re testing MGT2010 (sem 2 2010 2011)

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The purpose of this exercise was to find out whether - after finishing their assignments - students continue to access Islamic talks on the internet. Out of the 190 students who did this assignment is sem 2 (2010 2011), I sampled 50 students in the MGT2010 group. This was almost 6 weeks after the assignment was over. To avoid social pressure, the survey was done by a student rather than myself.

1. 50% of students said that they had listened to at least 1 talk on the internet in the last month
2. 34% of students said that they wanted to continue listening to talks but they faced technical difficulties (one student explained that she used headphones that belonged to her sister and that her sister reclaimed the headphones....so she could not listen to the talks in the labs anymore).
3. 16% said that they had not listened to any talks and that they were not interested in listening to talks in the future