SELF-CONCEPT, RESILIENCE AND LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG

WOMEN

LAVEEZA KHANAM CHEEMA

ROLL NO. 34

M.Sc. (MORNING)

SESSION: 2019-2021

INSTITUTE OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB

LAHORE
 Self-Concept, Resilience and Life Satisfaction among Women

Laveeza Khanam

Cheema Roll No. 34

M.Sc. (Morning)

Session: (2019-2021)

Supervised by

Dr. Afsheen Masood

A thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of

Master in Applied Psychology

Institute of Applied Psychology

University of the Punjab

Lahore

i
Self-Concept, Resilience and Life Satisfaction among Women

Submitted by: Laveeza Khanam Cheema

Thesis Approval

Approved/ Rejected/ Sought Revision and Resubmission.

External Examiner

Supervisor

Director

Institute of Applied Psychology

University of the Punjab,

Lahore

Date:

(To be signed after the Viva – Voce Examination)

ii
 Declaration

I Laveeza Khanam Cheema Roll No 34 Session 2019-2021 from Institute of

Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, do hereby solemnly declare

that the work submitted in this thesis entitled ―Self-Concept, Resilience and Life

Satisfaction among Women‖ is my own. This work has been completed at the

Institute of Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore under supervision

of Dr. Afsheen Masood and has not been previously presented to any other institution

or university for the degree and has gone through plagiarism check.

Signature:

iii
 Certificate

It is certified that Miss Laveeza Khanam Cheema worked under my supervision.

Her research project on ―Self-Concept, Resilience and Life Satisfaction among

Women‖ has been approved for submission in its present form, as a requirement for

fulfillment of the Master‘s Degree in Applied Psychology.

Signature:

Dr. Afsheen Masood

iv
 Acknowledgements

First of all I thank God the Almighty for his faithfulness and protection

throughout my study that made it possible for me to encounter this success. I take this

great opportunity to sincerely thank a number of people and institutions who have

made it possible for my research paper and master‘s program to become a reality. My

special thanks to the Chairperson of our institute that she gives me opportunity to do

this research work. My gratitude goes to my supervisor Dr. Afsheen Masood for the

dedicated support and endless guidance that she offered me throughout my research

process. She has put great efforts in helping us in accomplishing this thesis

successfully. Without her this research would not have been what it looks like now.

My very special thanks go to my supportive family that I can‘t find words to

explain. My parents who always supported me in every walk of life and stand beside

me. Participants who actively participated, and gave me their precious time and

information in this research project. I would like to thank to my parents, my

grandmother who have prayed me and made me what I am today.

Last but not least, I am very thankful to library and computer lab staff and

all existing staff of the department.

Laveeza Khanam Cheema

v
 Table of Contents
Page Number
Title page i

Thesis Approval ii

Declaration iii

Certificate iv

Acknowledgment v

Table of Contents vi

List of Tables x

List of Appendices xi

List of Symbols and Abbreviations xii

Abstract xiii

Chapter I

Introduction 1-25

1.1 Theoretical Framework 23

1.2 Scope and Significance of the Study 25

Chapter II

Literature Review 26-42

2.1 Rationale of the Study 42

2.2 Hypotheses 42

2.3 Objectives 42

Chapter III

Methodology 53-60

3.1 Design 43

3.2 Population and the Sample 43

3.2.1 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 44

vi
3.3 Materials 44

3.3.1 Satisfaction with Life Scale 44

3.3.2 Nicholson McBride Resilience Questionnaire 45

3.3.3 Robson Self-Concept Questionnaire (RSCQ) 45

3.3.4 Socio-Demographic Form 46

3.4 Data Collection Procedure 46

3.5 Operationalization of the Constructs 46

3.5.1 Self-concept 46

3.5.2 Resilience 47

3.5.3 Life Satisfaction 47

3.6 Data Analysis Procedures 47

3.7 Ethical Consideration 47

3.8 Conceptual Framework 47

Chapter IV

Results 49-56

4.1 Reliability Analysis 50

4.2 Descriptive Statistics 51

4.3 Inferential Statistics 52

4.4 Regression Analysis 53

4.5 Summary of findings 55

Chapter V

Discussion 57

5.2 Limitations and Implications 60

5.1 Conclusions 60

References 61
vii
Appendices 77-88

viii
 List of Tables

No. Title Page No.

Table 4.1 Reliability Coefficients for Robson self-concept questionnaire, 50

Nicholson McBride resilience questionnaire and life

satisfaction
scale (N=104)

Table 4.2 Demographic Traits of Study Sample (N=104) 51

Table 4.3 Inter-Correlations between Research Variables (N=104) 52

Table 4.4 Descriptive Stats 53

Table 4.5 Model Summary 54

Table 4.6 ANOVA Analysis 54

Table 4.7 Variables Entered/Removed 55

ix
 List of Appendices
Title

Appendix-A Consent Form

Appendix-B Demographic Information Sheet

Appendix-C Scale

Appendix-D Plagiarism Report

x
 List of Symbols and Abbreviations

RS Rejection sensitivity

SE Self-efficacy

N Sample size

M Average arithmetic mean

SD Standard deviation

S.E Standard error of estimation

f Frequency

P Significance level

Alpha: Cronbach‘s Index of

a Internal Consistency

% Percentage

CI Confidence Interval

β Standardized Co efficient

∆R2 R Square change

R 2 R Square

LL Lower Limits

UP Upper Limits

xi
 Abstract

Aim of this study was to investigate relationship between Self-concept, Resilience and

Life-satisfaction in women. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant

relationship among a Self-concept, Resilience and Life-satisfaction in women. This

study opt for quantitative method comprising of correlation and regression design.

Non- probability purposive sampling technique was used to select and recruit the

sample of N=104 participants comprising of females in the age ranges of (17-30) from

Leads University Lahore. The psychometric scales which were used were Satisfaction

with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener et al., 1985), Nicholson McBride Resilience

Questionnaire (NMRQ), Robson Self-Concept Questionnaire (RSCQ) and

Demographic sheet in order to assess the research variables. The results were

constituted by using SPSS version 23.0 research employing Multiple Correlation

Analysis, Multiple Linear Regression and Reliability analysis. The findings of study

suggest that all the main study variables are related to their respective dependent

variable. Self-concept to be positively and significantly related to the life satisfaction

and predicted the higher levels of it. Resilience has also been presented to positively

significantly affect life satisfaction and predicts the levels of it. The results of this

study suggest that women who have higher resilience and higher self-concept tend to

have higher levels of life satisfaction and vice versa. This indigenous research can be

extended by exploring more variables which significantly elevate the levels of life

satisfaction in females.

xii
 1

Chapter I

Introduction

Self-concept, according to Ryan and Deci (2000), is about self-evaluation or

self-perception. It reflects an individual's accumulation of qualities and beliefs in a

given situation. Beauvais, Leonard, and Scholl in 1999 investigated that it is a

generalized or consistent sense of self that is considered to reflect a person's entire

comprehensive sense of self-concept. According to Ryff & Essex, Kling (1997), the

features of the self; contribute to a person‘s self-esteem in proportion to their

significance. Students, on average, contain 3 perceived features. These attributes are

happiness, resilience, & self-concept. When compared to those who have a poorer

function of creating a healthy personality, those who are in the process of

establishing their self-concept and healthy personality enjoy better contentment and

resilience (Joshy & Raj, 2013).

SCC or clarity of self-concept is a structural characteristic of the

person‘s self-concept. It illustrates the internal, consistent, as well as temporally

stable characteristics of a person's self-belief which are clearly and firmly articulated.

SCC is also a relatively constant characteristic, according to a study (a person‘s low

SCC correlates with chronic analysis of one‘s self (Campbell, 1996). SCC, according

to Campbell (1990), comprises an evaluative component and a knowledge

component.

An evaluative component is linked to global self-concept (an individual‘s personal

evaluation of worthiness), and a component of knowledge emphasizes on the degree

of confidence about a person‘s beliefs in regards to his personal attributes. As a result,

it seems rational that an individual‘s perception of stress, ability to adjust according to

the environmental adversity and deliberative behaviors are all influenced or related to

his or her clarity of self. SCC has been linked to conscientiousness, extraversion,
neuroticism and agreeableness (Campbell, 1996); depressive features as well as long-

term and short-term adaptability to the stress described by , Pomaki, Biesanz,

Puterman, Lee-Flynn & DeLongis (2011); self-contemplation (Campbell, 1996; &

Simsek, 2013); gender biases (Campbell et al., 1996; (Csank, & Conway, 2004).

The concepts self & the term self-concept must be differentiated at the outset. The

failure to distinguish the self & the term self-concept leads to a lot of uncertainty in

social psychology that self is really a procedure or perhaps some kind of a structure.

The term self alludes to a procedure, that of reflexivity, that arises from the dialectical

between I and Me. The concepts self & self-concept must be distinguished at the

outset. The failure to differentiate between self & self-concept causes a lot of

uncertainty in social psychology that self is really a process or perhaps a structure.

The term self alludes to a process, that of self-reflection, that arises from within the

dialectical between the terms I and Me. Although there have been periodic debates of

the relationship of both the I and the Me in the literature [see, for the biological

explanation of I Carverth (1977), for the social-behaviorist explanation Lewis (1979),

and for the phenomenological treatment Weigert (1975)], the primary framework of

the idea of self has been held virtually unaltered. The self is a reality which arises in

every social contact and it is also dependent on the social nature of every human

language. Self-concept offers an intellectual foundation for psychological social

investigations into the concept of one‘s self. However it is not empirically testable.

This reflexive activity, on the other hand, produces the one‘s concept of self which

is termed as self-concept. It is a person's concept about herself as a physical,

societal, spiritual, and moral entity.

 The self-concept as described by Rosenberg (1979) is ―the wholeness of a

person's thoughts and emotions considering himself just as an object‖. According to

Snygg & Combs write (1989) ―The phenomenal self consists of all the features of the

phenomenal field which a person‘s encounters as a part or trait of himself.

―Generally my self-concept is ambiguous but it is an idea of what I feel I am like in

the best moments of mine, of what I am working or thriving towards and have some

motivation and courage to believe that I can attain and achieve what I desire, and of

what I am able to do in the situation supplies rewards for all the unqualified attempts

or effort, said Turner (1998).

Turner's (1998) describes the self-concept as a perception of temporal and

non-linear continuity, a distinction of the vital self from that of the basic appearance

and different behaviors (which he is referring to as the self-image of a person), and

identification of the person in both qualitative & locational and also in evaluative

terms. Epstein offers maybe the most innovative self-concept conception (1973).

Epstein proposes that self-concept is best regarded as a concept which an individual

believes about himself as a functional and encountering being in contact with the

environment, from the attribution perspective. Epstein's fascinating definition narrate

several repeating elements of the self-concept within the social-psychological literary

works, despite his emphasis on knowledge as well as on the beliefs as the basis for the

self-concepts (instead of norms, behaviors, or motivations). He could've been

much more right if he had thought of the self-concept like an ideology of self—we are

considerably more concerned in self-affirmation or self-protection than in the "theory

testing?" concerning our self-concepts. Epstein's self-concept theories, however, are

coherent with sociological formations, particularly for those who are derived from

structural variants of figurative interactionism (Stryker, 1996).

To be certain, there are changes in emphasis, however the self-concept is formulated

in both theories as an organization (i.e structure) of multiple identities and traits, as

well as their assessments that emerge from the person's reflexive, societal, and

figurative activities. Consequently, the self-concept can be considered as a largely

experiential and cognitive entity that can be studied scientifically. This review is

about the self-concept, not the notion of self.

In modern social psychology, the self-concept is having something of a

revival. Since pioneering writings of Mead (1994), it has been a core idea within

symbolic interactionism. Even in this sociological culture, however, there has been a

resurgence of any interest in the concept of self, owing to innovations in the role

theory (Turner 1978 & Gordon 1976), and a growing emphasis on the idea of identity

(Burke 1980 & Stryker 1980), (Guiot, 1977 & Gordon 1968 ) (Simmons 1978 &

McCall) with the resurgence of an interest in the personality and also in social

structure (Turner 1976 & House 1981) and with the reframing of the selected group‘s

experimental circumstances (Webster & Sobieszek 1974) (Turner 1976 & House

1981), (Alexander, 1971, 1981).

Within psychological social psychology, the resurgence of self-concept is

much more dramatic. Lot of this renewed interests within self-phenomenon (for

example, self-consciousness, or self-evaluation) can be attributed to psychology's

―cognitive revolution‖ (Manis 1977 & Dember, 1974), which favored cognition over

the behaviorism. Consequently, self-concept has also gained prominence in

previously uncharted territory: within behaviorism, acknowledgements to Bern's

(1972) as he devised the self-attribution theory; in the theory of social learning,

acknowledgements to Bandura's (1977) as he emphasizes on the self-efficacy concept;

as well as in the theory of cognitive dissonance, acknowledgements to Aronson's

(1968) and also to Bramel's (1968) reformations. As, it's also showing up

within Rokeach‘s (1973, 1979) theories of attitude as well as value development and

change, theory of attribution by Bowerman (1978) & Epstein (1973), and a slew of

many other modern cognitive theories of Vallacher & Wegner (1980). Hales (1981a)

suggests that, this is what a reviewer calls as ―the unpremeditated rediscovery of one‘s

self‖ within the experimental social psychology is may be as essential as these

―planned‖ theoretical advancements in the field of social psychology helping

in refocusing on the concept of one‘s self. This applies to the finding that the

functioning of self-processes in these settings can frequently explain experimental

outcomes as well or better than the theoretical components under examination. This

"inadvertent" self-discovery may have led to the social psychology "crisis" (Boutilier,

1980).

In social psychology, a variety of features of the self-concept were considered

(and for the detailed categorization see Gordon 1968 &Rosenberg, 1979). The

difference in the essence of self-conceptions (for example, identities) and self-

evaluations is a simple but useful distinction (for example, self-esteem). The

evaluative & emotional components of the self-concept are addressed by self-esteem.

The two fragments of self-concept has been intertwined in experience: Evaluations of

one‘s self are frequently established on the substantial features of a person‘s self-

concept, the identities frequently include components of evaluation. These two

aspects of social psychology have substantially independent literatures.

According to Wells & Marwell (1976) the evaluative & affective

components of the self-concept has been referred to as self-evaluation and the self-

esteem. As many researches on the self-concept emphasizes on this

component, the self-concept is sometimes confused with the self-esteem (Marwell &

Wells, 1976). As for instance, Wylie's (1974, 1979) self-evaluation is almost entirely

discussed in detailed reviews of the self-concept research. Importance of the self-

esteem as a motivator is the fundamental reason for its prominence in self-concept.

In most of these research, the self-esteem corresponds to a person's total

evaluation of one‘s self [one of the often used assessment tool of self-esteem is one-

dimensional scale of Rosenberg (1965)]. Franks and Marolla, (1976) however,

described the different aspects of self-esteem are increasingly being differentiated,

such as a sense of control and worthiness; "inner" as well as the "outer" self-esteem;

affection and evaluation (Wells and Marwell, I976); a sense of competency & self-

worthiness (Smith, 1978); the self-evaluation & self-worthiness (Brissett, 1972); as

well as competency & morality (Wells and Marwell, I976) (Rokeach, 1973; and

Hales, 1980) (Vallacher, 1980).

The difference between (i) the self-esteem which depends on the sense of

competency, strength, or self-efficiency and (ii) the self-esteem which depends on the

sense of righteousness (moral) worthiness is shared by the subgroups. The

significance of this distinction stems from the idea that these two kinds of the self-

esteem are the result of these different self-concept formula processes (Marwell and

Wells, 1976) and hence represent different aspects of motivation. In summary, self-

esteem based on competence is inextricably linked to the effective performance

(Harter 1978; Gecas, 1 979; Smith 1968; Mortimer & Lorence, 1979; Bandura, 1978;

Franks & Marolla, 1976,). Consequently, it's linked to processes like self-attribution

as well as social comparison.

Virtue-based self-esteem (also known as self-worth) is built on personal as

well as interpersonal norms such as fairness, reciprocity, and honor. The

formulation of self-worth is aided by the process of the reflected appraisal (Gecas,

1971 and Vallacher, 1980). While the difference between one‘s "self-efficacy" &

"self-worthiness" is very significant philosophically, it appears to blur in practice. The

one‘s sense of worthiness can be influenced significantly by the perception of

competence (reference, Beery and Covington (1976) on the interconnectedness

between these two components of the self-esteem in the school).

The dominant argument in self-sociology is this, that one‘s self-concept

represents the responses and the judgments of others. The process of reflected

appraisals is the core component of the viewpoint of symbolic interactionist on the

self-concept development, and it is based on the Cooley's (1992) seminal idea of the

"looking-glass self" and the theory by Mead's (1994) states that the self-concept

is developed by the system of taking roles of others (Kinch, 1963; Rosenberg, 1979).

Due to its utmost recognition in the field of sociology as well as psychology,

one might assume that this claim has been empirically proven beyond doubt; yet, this

is far from the truth. To be sure, numerous researchers (particularly the symbolic

interactionists) also have looked at the correlation between others people' opinions

and a person's own self-concept (Quarantelli & Cooper, 1986; Dornbusch &

Miyamoto, 1996). However, the ability of others' opinions to originate and influence

the growth of one's self-concept is yet debatable described by Schoeneman &

Shrauger (1979). They looked at over fifty studies for scientific evidence for the

"looking-glass self." They find that: (a) person's self-perception is remarkably similar

to how he believes others see him. Although, (b) there is a minimal correlation

between the person's self-perceptions and how other people perceive him.

Schoeneman and Shrauger, say that "There is not a single convincing evidence
available that the self-evaluations are affected by the feedback obtained by others in

the normally occurring settings.

"Resilience is simply stated, as a positive adjustment or adaptation in the

response to any sort of adversity or hardship" (Waller, 2001). Resilience is a

psychological concept that refers to a person's ability to manage distress and hardship.

This coping mechanism may lead to the person "bouncing back" to the prior state of

the normal functioning. This could also result in the individual experiencing the effect

termed as "steeling effect" and the function which is better than the expected on after

being exposed to the adversity. Resilience is referred to as an individual‘s ability to

handle a rapid decline in functioning, even though they appear to be getting worst

(Masten, 2009).

Resilience is considered to be a two-dimensional term that refers to the

exposure to adversity as well as the beneficial effects of the adversity. This differs

from the strengths and the developmental assets, these are shared by all the members

of a population, irrespective of their level of adversity. When faced with adversity,

assets perform differently. For example, a good education or parental guidance have

a greater impact on the lifestyle of someone belonging to a low-income family with

fewer options for support, recreation, and self-esteem than someone belonging to a

wealthy family having more resources for the recreation, assistance or support , as

well as the self-esteem (Cicchetti & Luthar, 2000). These two-dimensional constructs

can be used to represent two different kinds of judgments: one regarding "positive

adaptation" and the other about the "importance of risk adversity." Positive

adaptation refers to a person's behavioral or social competency, as well as their

success in completing specified activities at a given stage of life. The importance of

risk adversity is concerned with any risk connected with bad life circumstances that

are
associated with adjustment issues, such as scarcity, the children of the moms suffering

from schizophrenia, and disaster events.

Resilience is considered to be as a process rather than a personality attribute

(Masten & Obradovic, 2006). Resiliency or resilience has been described as a

psychological resource more and more frequently in recent years. As the first

assumptions in that context concerned children growing up in families with at least

one parent struggled from schizophrenia, studies on resilience was originally

performed on children's populations; thus, the world literature offers a substantial

amount of literature on resilience as a characteristic and/or process primarily in

children. This could be owing to the fact that children's (central) nerve systems are

more flexible and pliable, as well as their psychological functioning. It wasn't until

very later that adolescents' resilience began to be explored. Many authors use the term

"resiliency" interchangeably with "resilience" (Bergemen, 1999).

The goal of extending mental health research design beyond risk variables for

pathology to also include wellbeing improvement and health - enhancing factors is

what the concepts of "mental hygiene", "mental health resilience" or "emotional

resilience", "mental resilience", "mental immunity," have had in common. According

to a number of studies, resilience is linked to lower vulnerability, the capacity to

adjust to adversity, and the capacity to cope (Davydov, 2010).

Resilience is defined as the ability to maintain healthy/successful functioning or

ability to adapt in the face of major adversity or danger, and it is best described as a

dynamic procedure, because people can prove to be resilient towards the particular

natural hazards or sometimes stay resilient at the one stage and do not stay resilient at

the another one (Martinez, 2019). It is indeed a measure of an individual's capability

to adjust to the environmental adversity faced in life in a better and healthy manner.
Individual adaptability is aided by the resiliency that is also regarded as the desirable

personality characteristic. Hence, resilience is also defined as a dynamic development

procedure which includes the attainment of the constructive adjustment in the time of

adversity or hardship. This explanation of resilience includes the two important

conditions which are: a) encountering a major threat, extreme hardships or adversity

and trauma; and b) the attainment of the constructive adjustment in the times of major

assault or adversity in the developmental procedure (Masten, 2001). The resilience is

not considered as a personality trait; instead it is a complicated developmental

procedure which is neither settled nor unchanging (Cicchetti, 2010). The resilience

has also been regarded as a complicated procedure in which social, biological

and environmental elements are interacting in a way to allow an individual of every

age to develop, sustain, and restore mental health and heal amidst adversity or

hardship (Wathen et. al., 2012).

The word "resilience" mentions a person's or a group of people‘s ability to

persist and thrive in the time of hardship, and even when the conditions are adverse.

The resilience is hence defined as an individual's ability to adapt and adjust positively

to daily life challenges and threats despite the hardships and adversity confronted

during one‘s life cycle, consequently a mix of personal traits and one‘s family, social,

and cultural or traditional contexts. Resistance to demolition, which is referring to

one‘s capacity of maintaining his/her integrity under any strain, and the capability of

developing or making a life more livable amidst adversity are considered as the two

main traits of the resilience (Labronici, 2012).

The term "resilience" refers to a multifaceted idea. The term "resilience" is

not synonymous with "recovery." Recovery refers to a return to normal performance

after a phase of interruption, whereas resilience refers to the ability to continue

competent
performance in the midst of adversity. There are many pathways to the resiliency

which have been described in various ways, and it is also considered that there isn‘t a

singular mean for the retaining competent performance in the midst of hardship or

adversity (Bonanno, 2004).

Varaniyab & Abolghasemi (2010) says that the students' perceptions of

distress were considered to be affected by resilience, which in turn influenced their

overall health and their satisfaction of living standards (Kris, Ning, & Tung, 2014).

The previous research has indicated that when the people engage in rumination while

under stress, they are less likely to participate in resilience practices (Troy & Mauss,

2011). In addition, women have been reported to be less resilient than men after

enduring a traumatic event. (Bonanno, Galea, Bucciarelli, & Vlahov, 2007). As per

resilience theory, the relationship of risk and protective factors determines a

person's resilience (Van Breda, 2001). Resourcefulness and coping with stress,

according to Van Breda (2001), can be considered of as the indicators of resilience

since they are indicating characteristics for conquering hardship and also growing

more tougher, extra adaptable, and more healthier. Recently published study has

looked at resourcefulness and coping with stress as indicators of resilience. Zautra,

Murray & Hall (2008) states that although, in the perspective of resilience theory,

these attributes have not been investigated in connection to the impacts of risk and

protective variables (Khaw, Surtees, & Wainwright, 2006). Furthermore, three main

resilience models are developed: (1) the model of compensation, which describes

resilience's effect as an element that counteracts stress's detrimental effects; (2) The

model of protection, which investigates the resilience's effect of

buffering in relationship between the stress and its adverse impacts using multiple

regressions or structural equation modelling to investigate moderation impacts and (3)

The challenge model, which requires longitudinal data to assess since the link

between the risk factor and a consequence is curvilinear: Negative outcomes are

linked to the higher and lower levels of risk variables, although intermediate levels of

risk elements are linked to the reduced negative or adverse consequences. (Fergus &

Zimmerman, 2005) (Anyan & Hjemdal, 2016). Individual resilience was described in

four patterns or techniques in the study on resilience: To begin, the dispositional

pattern is defined by self-worth, self-efficacy and mastery characteristics, as well as

constitutional characteristics such as IQ, health, looks, and temperament. Second, the

man's capacity to take solace, help, or motivation from others is reflected in the

relationship pattern (Polk, 1997). Finally, the situational pattern entails approaching

situations with the proper problem-solving and cognitive capabilities. Finally, the

philosophical pattern highlights the importance of personal ideas, meaning formation,

and self-awareness in improving life experience

Some academics looked into resilience as an individual attribute or an

epiphenomenon of adaptable temperament, while others looked into it as a system or

drive that encourages a person to grow in the face of adversity (Davydov, Stewart,

Ritchie, Chaudieu, 2010). Resilience has been defined as a process based on a variety

of ecological elements such as family, school, friends, community involvement, and

social equality. It was previously characterized as the capacity to achieve positive

adaptation in the face of adversity. . In order to account for the complex nature of

resilience, some authors divide it into three categories: "resilient," ''non-resilient'',

and "near-resilient," (Kassis et. al., 2013).

Resilience can also be defined as the ability to heal from and overcome challenges

with the goal of strengthening and healing the individual, as well as keeping him or

her emotionally healthier; resilience is a process of internal mobilisation that results in

a movement of breaking free and opening up to the other with the aim of supporting

oneself and others, of overcoming the suffering and finding new purpose for one's

existence (Herreira, Labronici, Merighi, Raimondo, 2014).

To sum up, the resilience is a set of personality characteristics, as well as the

capabilities and competences that assist people in coping with their stress, the traumas

they face, the issues they encounter, and adversity and challenges of their lives. It can

also be seem not just as a personality trait, but also as a collection of complicated

procedures which help in shaping how the families and the people adapt and adjust to

and develop and grow in the times of diverse threats and challenges.

As a result of the foregoing, the concept is coherent with psychology's

salutogenic approach. Resilience can be thought seen as one of the psychological

capital that allows a person to cope with a challenging current circumstance and/or

stress, as well as when it occurs.

Resilience is a concept that is being used in the field of ecology, in some areas

of developmental psychology, and also in the psychiatry. It is taken from the physics

of materials. The tendency of someone to restore to its prior form after it‘s been bent

or compressed is referred to as resilience in materials science (Laurence & Kirmayer,

2009). Resilience in organism biology describes as an organism's capacity to react to

physiological stresses by restoring and preserving bodily functions. The body contains

systems to restore balance in the event of slight changes or obstacles (Mcewan, 1998).

Resilience in psychology is used to describe an individual‘s capacity to cope with the

stress and adversity/hardship. This may also lead to a person to "bounce back" to the

former situation of the normal functioning, it may result in the individual utilizing the

experience of adversity to make a steeling effect, and allowing them to operate better

than anticipated in the future (Masten, 2009). Ecological perspectives on resilience

highlight the natural systems' ability to react to the stress or threat through the

processes of self-correction. These processes recover or heal the pre-existing plant

and the animal patterns and populations. Ecosystems demonstrate resilience in three

different methods: the buffering disturbances to lessen the impact, the self-

organization to retain the critical system functions, and adaptability (Trosper &

Stepp, 2003).

The developmental psychologists took an interactional approach for the

resilience, viewing it in the children's interactions with their caregivers or peers

(Smith & Ward, 2009). These models are individual-centered, according to

researchers, they tend to disregard broader societal and the cultural framework

wherein individual development & adaptation occurs. The idea of resilience arose in

psychiatry as a result of clinical observations that many children do well in spite of

having a hard childhood (Rutter, 2001).

Although different kinds of systems have distinct structures and procedures,

there are some common characteristics of system dynamics which are related to the

understanding of resilience (Holling, 2001). On a high level, the resilience is

described as a system's capability to bear the disturbance and then reorganize when

experiencing change whilst also maintaining fundamentally the same functioning,

structure, identification, and feedbacks (Waller and Okamoto, 2000) (Hankerson and

Mclntyre, 2002). Individuals' ability to retain steady mental function despite risk

factors is referred to as resilience. These risk factors relate to unfavorable or

unsatisfactory results. Poverty, low socioeconomic level, and schizophrenic moms,

for example, are linked to poorer academic attainment as well as more behavioral and

psychological issues. Some protective components, like better parenting and good
school experiences, are associated with these positive results (Masten, Best &

Garmezy, 1990).

Individual resilience is fostered by communities, according to Allen (1999).

"Community resilience" can be interpreted in two ways. First, it may investigate how

people cope with stress, trauma, as well as other life issues by utilizing the social

circles and the cultural assets within the communities to which they belong. Second, it

might look at how communities are manifesting the resilience, reacting to the

particular stressors and hindrances in the ways which help them reinstate their proper

functioning. The dynamics of the societal reaction to the issues that are threatening to

harm or demolish the community are part of community resilience. Individuals,

groups, and organizations may adapt and adjust to the community, and also

interactions between the entire community and its surrounding environment, which

includes various social, economic, as well as political bodies (Masten, 2001). In the

context of an outcome, the resilience can be defined as a child who grew up in the

poverty yet stayed in school and achieved academic success despite all odds.

Individuals can use distinct skills to reach various desired goals, and there are several

forms of resilience in terms of both pathways and consequences (Benard, 2007).

Individual resilience was described in four different strategies or patterns in

the study on resilience: First, the dispositional pattern can be defined by self-worth,

mastery, characteristics of self-efficacy, as well as characteristics of constitution such

as IQ, health, looks, & temperament. Second, one's ability to solicit comfort support,

and inspiration from others is reflected in the relational pattern (Polk, 1997). Third,

the situational pattern entails approaching situations with the proper cognitive and

problem-solving capabilities. Lastly, the philosophical pattern highlights the

importance of personal beliefs, meaning formation, as well as self-knowledge in

improving the experience of life. An Individual's ability to interact with its

environment and the procedures which promote the well-being and shield it from the

overwhelming impacts of the risk elements is referred to as resilience (Zautra, Hall &

Murray, 2010).

The resilience is a dynamic outcome instead of some kind of a static outcome.

This is resulting from the interactions between the risk and the protective factors,

existing inside as well as outside the individual. Individuals who are resilient are not

supposed to be labeled as the "stress-resistants" or "super humans" because of their

capacity to cope with the given stress. Individuals who are resilient are not

invulnerable in any way. Individuals who are resilient and capable of functioning

efficiently are still at risk to unfavorable consequences if their circumstances alter

(Garmezy & Cicchetti, 1993). As the individual's circumstances vary both inside and

outside of them, so does their resilience potential. The construct of resilience has

numerous domains, including social, educational, professional, and relational

resilience. These domains are linked to the developmental level of an individual and

may alter as the one matures and transforms through different developmental stages

of life. The working of resilience in one dimension cannot imply that it will be

resilient in another. The lack of consistency across domains shows that resilience isn't

a one- size-fits-all phenomenon (Tusaie & Dyer, 2004).

Satisfaction is a Latin term. It implies "enough made or done." Satisfaction in

an individual's life entails acceptance, contentedness, or fulfillment of its wants and

needs during its entire life. It is naturally a judgment, satisfaction of life is essentially

a subjective evaluation of an individual's life quality. Life satisfaction encompasses a

significant cognitive component (Sousa & Lyubomirsky, 2001). Overall life

satisfaction assessments are based on individual comparisons in both self-sufficiency

criteria and also perceived life conditions. Likewise, satisfaction of life is a person's

subjective assessment of how well his most significant needs, ambitions, and desires

have been met (Frisch, 1998). A study on life satisfaction was undertaken by Saundra

and Hughey (2003). The Scale of Life Satisfaction of an Adult and the Spirituality

Measure of Black Women were administered to one hundred and forty seven African

American women belonging to the six different states for this study (BWSRM).

Despite the fact that there was no substantial difference in life happiness and

spirituality ratings by age or level of education, women showed higher rates of

religiosity than spirituality, that is linked to life satisfaction. Spirituality, regardless of

age, money, or qualification, contributes to the African-American women‘s life

satisfaction in their forties. Bettencourt and Molix (2003) performed research into the

manner in which rural women's lifestyles are linked to their satisfaction with health

treatment. 131 rural women, ranging in age from 45 to 70, answered questionnaires on

social esteem, satisfaction with life, medical care satisfaction and the health condition.

The findings revealed that the rural women's life happiness regarding their health

treatment has been linked to their level of community respect and their degree of

satisfaction for life.

Furthermore, the women living in the poor health were less content with

accessible health assistance than the women living in better health. The relationship

between life happiness and the sexrole notion was examined by Shichman and Cooper

(2004). Two hundred and seventeen people completed the survey of life satisfaction,

which was a two-part questionnaire. The level of satisfaction gained from many areas

of life, especially the most significant elements, was found to be a consequence of

general life satisfaction. General life satisfaction was positively related with level of

education, income level, and marital status, as in prior studies. The people who are
mentally masculine chose a significant and appreciate more instrumental life areas;

the people who are mentally feminine select a significant and appreciate more socio

emotional life areas; and the people who are mentally androgynous select a

significant and appreciate the both socio-emotional and instrumental life aspects.

Life satisfaction amongst unmarried Iranian women in metropolitan settings

was investigated by Kousha and Moheen (2004). A total of 335 women were studied,

with 61 percent of them being married and the 39% of them being single. According

to a path analyses series and the cross tabulations, the women who are married has

their life happiness completely related to their contentment with the marriage life they

are spending, profession, and the spare-time activities. There is a negative association

between women's activities and satisfaction. Unmarried women's contentment, on the

other hand, is influenced by their spare-time activities and their qualification.

According to the studies, any attempt to restrict or expand women's academic,

professional, or spare-time pursuits has a direct impact on women's satisfaction level

and, as a result, on Iranian society on the whole.

Borg et al. (2006) looked at the relationship between satisfaction for life and

the living standards, general physical health, and self-care ability. Using an advanced

version of the Index of Life Satisfaction and the Older Americans' Resources

Schedule, from a cross-sectional survey, a sample of 522 people was irregularly

chosen. Feeling lonesome, a level of the self-care capability, generally bad health,

getting worries, and bad financial conditions in regards to the needs are all

components that affect life satisfaction in old aged patients with decreased self-care

ability, with social, physiological, psychological, and financial factors likely

interacting with each other. These aspects must be taken into account when caring for

these individuals in order to maintain or enhance their quality of life.

 Young (2006) investigated the link between the friends and family support and

satisfaction of life for adults having continuing mental disorder in a study. A total of

146 people were included in the study, who came from two large Hong Kong

residential buildings. The findings reveal that the various types of the social assistance

are having diverse impacts on people's overall satisfaction for life. Professional and

companion instrumental and emotional support has varying predictive power and

impact on a person's satisfaction for life. These findings imply that for those with

long-term mental disorder, boosting professional and companion's support could

increase life satisfaction.

Women in their forties and fifties have the highest level of life satisfaction.

Women in the high age group have an average degree of social contentment, whereas

women in the average age group have a high degree of social satisfaction. Women in

the typical age group report a high degree of familial pleasure. Women in their forties

and fifties have a low degree of personal satisfaction, whereas women in their forties

and fifties have a high degree of personal satisfaction. Women who are illiterate or

literate have an average degree of life contentment, whereas educated women have a

high degree of life satisfaction. Illiterate women have a lower level of career

happiness, literate women have an average degree of career satisfaction, and

literate women have a high degree of career satisfaction. Women who are literate and

uneducated have low levels of social contentment, while educated women have high

levels of social pleasure.

Furthermore, uneducated women have a low level of familial contentment,

literate women have an average level of familial happiness, and educated women have

a high level of familial pleasure. Women who are illiterate or literate have a low
degree of personal satisfaction, whereas literate women have a high degree of

personal satisfaction.

Diener and Pavot (1991) suggest that the word "life satisfaction" has been

used to describe a variety of ideas and concepts. Satisfaction for life can be described

as the cognitive evaluation of an individual's overall quality of life, as well as

particular life aspects like family, peers, or the society (Colvin and Sandvik, 1991). It

most likely acts as a catch-all phrase for a variety of different terms.

In numerous disciplines like economics, sociology, psychiatry, medicine, and health

care, the term "life quality" is commonly used in order to characterize "the better life"

within and between these fields, the concepts and precise measurements of quality of

life differ (Bishop, Frain & Tschopp, 2008). In the perspective of the culture as well

as the value system in which an individual life, "life quality" is defined as an aspect of

its place in life concerning its objectives, expectations, and standards. (Frain &

Berven, 2008; Chan & Tschopp, 2008).

"Subjective well-being" which is the scientific term for happiness and

the "social-psychological well-being" which entails the positive functioning of

an individual are the two terms used to refer to it. (George, 2000).

Subjective well-being is also known as happiness contains two components;

an affective component (emotional) and a cognitive component (judgment), according

to Deiner and colleagues, (2002). The affective component includes low frequency a

person reports feeling positive and negative emotions. The cognitive component is

believed to be life satisfaction.

Researchers distinguish between the domain of life and satisfaction with the

particular aspects of the life of an individual, like profession, marriage, and earnings,
and general judgments. The word "life satisfaction" mentions a person's overall

evaluation of his life (Lyubomirsky & Sousa, 2001).

When an individual is aware of its special abilities, the query is that how to

use these to live more happy and fulfilled life. The aim is to use its special abilities

and strengths to its favor every day. This may necessitate some creativity, but can be

advantageous to concentrate on an individual's strengths (Lyubomirsky & Sosusa,

2001).

A large number of life satisfaction studies examine the level to which different

components are playing as an indicator of life satisfaction. Although, because the

scientists are not able to conduct actual experiments by irregularly allocating the

participants to demographic sets of people (for example gender, occupation, or age),

most of the study has been correlational, focusing on objective factors that influence

life satisfaction (Kahneman, Deiner & Schwarz, 1999).

We must review the point that can life satisfaction be evaluated or not across

cultures, before explaining the studies on cultural influence. Luckily, satisfaction is a

worldwide term with no default translation measure of life satisfaction in other

languages or cross-cultural studies. People from various cultural backgrounds can

discern between terms like "contentment," "satisfaction of life," "life which is best

possible," as well as "worst possible life," and there is language biases (Kahneman,

and Schwarz, 1999).

Employment position, irrespective of the income, seems to interpret the life

satisfaction, like unemployed reporting much lower levels of satisfaction than those

who are employed. When gender is kept in consideration, employment appears to be

more highly linked to the satisfaction for life in men than in the women. Knowing that
there is far less societal pressure on women for working outside the house, this

conclusion is not surprising (Deiner and Biswas, 2002).

Overall, the research identified a minor correlation of education with life

satisfaction. When income and job are satisfactorily controlled, however, the

correlation seems to vanish. That is actually the relation between the academics and

the life satisfaction which is due to the reason that a higher degree of qualification is

related with the higher wages. Education also seems to be strongly associated to life

satisfaction for the individuals who are having lower wages and belonging to the poor

nations or civilizations. Perhaps poor people were more satisfied with their education

since their achievements exceeded their expectations of what they could achieve,

influencing life satisfaction (Carson, 1978).

Life satisfaction remains constant over the course of a person's life, with only

a modest upward tendency between the age group of 20 & 80. With age,

accommodative coping seems to become more prevalent. But, as women get older,

they may attain more goals (such as family, professional achievements, and financial

security), bringing them close to their perfect selves. Life contentment levels over the

period of life are basically that people are having an incredible potential to adjust to

major changes of life (Biswas and Deiner, 2002).

Our delights and sufferings are multiplied when we are in a human

relationship. This claim has been disproved by numerous studies. Greater levels of

social assistance are related with the stronger levels of contentment. In the Western

countries, the marriage is much more of a predictor of the life satisfaction than that of

the friendships and the family relationships. Gender also seems to play a vital role in

regard to the quality of their intimate relationships. Women are more likely than the

men to give greater and significant support. The male as well as female both say that
their female friends are more intimating, loving and supporting than their male friends

(Pinquart & Soresen, 2000).

1.1 Theoretical Framework

Epstein offers maybe the most innovative self-concept conception (1993).

Epstein proposes that self-concept is best regarded as a concept which an individual;

believes about herself/himself as functional and experiencing when being in contact

with his surrounding environment, from the attribution perspective. Epstein's

fascinating definition has several of the repeating elements of the self-concept within

socio-psychological literary works, despite his emphasis on knowledge as well as on

beliefs as the foundation for self-concepts (instead of norms, behaviors,

or motivations). He could‘ve been much more correct if he had devised the self-

concept as a self-ideology—we are considerably more concerned in self-affirmation

or self-protection than in the "theory testing?" concerning our self-concepts. Epstein's

self-concept theories, however, are coherent with the sociological formations,

particularly the ones which are derived from structural features of symbolic

interactionism (Stryker, 1980) (Heiss & Gordon, 1988). To be certain, there are

changes in emphasis, however the self-concept is formulated in both theories as an

organization (i.e. structure) of multiple identities and traits, as well as their

evaluations that emerge from the individual's societal, reflexive and symbolic

activities. Consequently, the self-concept is referred as a largely cognitive,

experiential entity that can be studied scientifically. This review is about the self-

concept, not the notion of one‘s self. In the modern social psychology, the concept of

one‘s is having something of a revival.

Even in this sociological culture, however, there has been a resurgence

of the interest in the concept of one‘s self, owing to innovations in the role

theory (Gordon 1976), and a growing emphasis on the concept of identity (Stryker

& Burke 1980) (Gordon 1968 & Guiot, 1977) (McCall & Simmons 1978), with the

resurgence of interest in personality and also in social structure (Turner 1976 &

House 1981) (Kohn 1969), and with the reframing of select the experimental

circumstances (Webster & Sobieszek 1974) (Turner 1976 & House 1981) (Kohn

1989, 1981and Rosenberg 1979) (Alexander, 1981). Within psychological

social psychology, the resurgence of self-concept is much more dramatic. A lot of this

renewed level of interest within self-phenomenon (like, self-consciousness, or self-

evaluation) can be attributed to psychology's ―cognitive revolution‖ (Manis 1977 &

Dember, 1974), which favored cognition over the behaviorism. Consequently, the

concept of one‘s self has gained prominence in previously uncharted territory: within

behaviorism, acknowledgements to Bern's (1992) who described the self-attribution

theory; in the theory of social learning, acknowledgements to Bandura's (1977) who

emphasizes on the concept of self-efficacy; as well as within the theory of cognitive

dissonance, acknowledgements to Aronson's (1968) and also to the Bramel's (1968)

reformations. This is also showing up within Rokeach‘s (1973, 1979) theories of

attitude as well as value development and change, theory of attribution by Epstein

(1973) and Bowerman (1978), and a slew of the many other modern cognitive

theories of Vallacher & Wegner (1980). (Hales, 1981a) says what a reviewer will call

as ―the unpremeditated rediscovery of one‘s self‖ within the experimental social

psychology is may be as essential as these theoretical advancements in the field of

social psychology helping in refocusing on the sense of self-concept. This applies to

the finding that the functioning of self-processes in these settings can frequently

explain experimental outcomes as well or better than the theoretical components

under examination. Although awareness regarding mental health and self- acceptance

through social media and other mediums is spreading wide these days, but there is

still need to perform indigenous psychological research on the subject of satisfaction

from life and the role that self-concept and resilience plays in it. This study

particularly focuses on women particularly those who are enrolled in university. This

research will help readers understand how their ability to bounce back from

adversity, their sense of self can lead them to live a life that gives them satisfaction

and contentment.

1.2 Scope and Significance of the Study

Number of studies have been performed which show that distress or adversity

has a significant association with the self-concept and mental health of university

students. Stressors like performance anxiety, the fixation with success, financial

constraints, poor quality of sleep, unhealthy relationships with family and friends,

body image, self-esteem and overall unhealthy self-concept become a huge road block

in the achievement of life satisfaction. One of the most crucial cognitive or

personality skills which leads to life satisfaction is resilience which helps individual

bounce back from set-backs and adversities, and in return boosts the ones self-

concept. Which is why there is a need to spread awareness about self-concept among

young women that can enhance the quality of life and improve their self-esteem.
Chapter II

Literature Review

Garmezy (1973) was among the very first one to publish the first resilience

study findings. He used epidemiology in the studies, which is actually the research of

who gets ill, and who doesn't get sick, and the reason why? In order to find the risks

and the precautionary measures which are currently used to describe resilience.

Resilience has been described as a psychological asset more and more frequently in

recent years. Children‘s populations were the focus of early resilience research, as the

first observations in that area included children nurtured in homes with a parent

suffering from schizophrenia.

Streitman and Garmezy (1974) introduced the tools to examine the systems

which are facilitating the resilience development. In the 1970s, Werner was among

the very first scientists who introduced the word resilience. She looked at a group of

kids from Kauai. She noticed that the children who grew up in particularly difficult

settings demonstrated damaging behaviors in the later teen years of their lives,

including chronic unemployment and drug addiction. Kauai was an underdeveloped

and poor area and many of the children chosen in the research were brought up with

alcohol addictive or mentally unwell parents.

Those children and the families which were resilient had characteristics that

set them apart from the children and families who were not resilient. In the 1980s,

studies show that children of the schizophrenic mothers gave rise to resilience as a

prominent theoretical and research area. The findings revealed that children with

schizophrenic parents are less likely to receive reassuring care than the children

having healthy parents, and that has an influence on the development

of children. Some children with ill parents do well (Werner, 1971).

 Luthar (2006) and Olsson (2008) described that the resilience is associated

with the capability to ask for the help when needed, the use of coping techniques to

handle stress, and individual accountability for stress management. (Connor &

Davidson, 2003). According to studies addressing these problems, parents who are

better equipped to deal with the stressful demands of caring have greater satisfaction

with their standard of living and a pleasant mental health status (Fergus and

Zimmerman, 2005). Adhern, Sole, and Byers (2006) says that the resilience is a factor

that has been linked to a person's capacity to deal with tough the life incidents. In the

literature, the term resilience has been linked to a personality trait that can help to

mitigate the impacts of stress, (Coutu, 2002) and (Kumpfer, 1999) and a state where a

person is able to adapt or adjust to difficult situations (Wagnild & Young, 1993).

According to the findings, the resilient students felt in control of their surroundings

and their lives (Rutter (1984). The term "resilience" refers to a multifaceted idea. The

term "resilience" is not synonymous with "recovery." Recovery refers to a return to

normal performance after a phase of interruption, whereas resilience refers to the

ability to continue competent performance during the midst of hardships or adversity.

There are many pathways to the resilience which have been described in a variety of

ways, and that is considered that there is not a single mean of retaining competent

performance in the midst of hardship or adversity (Bonanno, 2004).

Abolghasemi and Varaniyab (2010) says that the Students' perceptions of

distress were considered to be affected by resilience, which in turn influenced their

overall health and their satisfaction of living standards (Tung, Kris & Ning, 2014).

Prior research has also described that when people engage in rumination while under

stress, they are less likely to participate in resilience practices (Troy & Mauss, 2011).

In addition, women have been reported to be less resilient than men after enduring a
traumatic event. (Bonanno, Galea, Bucciarelli, & Vlahov, 2007). As per resilience

theory, the relationship of risk and protective factors determines a person's resilience

(Van Breda, 2001).

Resourcefulness and coping with stress, according to Van Breda (2001), can

be considered of as the indicators for resilience since they are indicating the qualities

for conquering hardship and growing tougher, adaptable, and even healthier. Recently

published study has looked at resourcefulness and coping with stress as indicators of

resilience. Khaw, Surtees & Wainwright, (2006) states that however, in the

perspective of resilience theory, these attributes have not been investigated in

connection to the impacts of risk and protective variables (Hall, Zautra, and Murray,

2008).

Furthermore, Anyan and Hjemdal (2016) describes the three main resilience

models are developed:

1. The model of compensation, which describes resilience's effect as an

element that counteracts stress's detrimental effects;

2. The model of protection, which investigates the resilience's effect

of buffering in a relationship between the stress and its adverse effects using

multiple regressions or structural equation modelling to investigate moderation

impacts and

3. The challenge model, which requires longitudinal data to assess since the link

between the risk factor and a consequence is curvilinear: Negative outcomes

are linked to lower and higher levels of risk factors, although intermediate

levels of risk variables are linked to reduced bad consequences. (Fergus &

Zimmerman, 2005).
 Individual resilience was described in four patterns or techniques in the study

on resilience: To begin, the dispositional pattern is defined by self-worth, self-efficacy

and mastery characteristics, as well as constitutional characteristics such as IQ, health,

looks, and temperament. Second, the man's capacity to take solace, help, or

motivation from others is reflected in the relationship pattern (Polk, 1997). Finally,

the situational pattern entails approaching situations with the proper problem-solving

and cognitive capabilities. Finally, the philosophical pattern highlights the importance

of personal ideas, meaning formation, and self-awareness in improving life

experience.

Individuals' ability to engage with their environment and procedures that

either enhance their well-being and shield them from the presence of overwhelming

risk factors is referred to as resilience. (Zautra, Hall & Murray, 2010). When faced

with protracted or severe adversity, resilience describes a phenomenon of recovery

that occurs after the serious threat or stress has passed, rather than invulnerability.

Anthony & Cohler (1987) states that the children who survived the Holocaust,

children who have face the caregiver‘s abuse and negligence, and the children who

have already lost one of the parent all of these speak to the human ability for

rehabilitation and recovery ( Garmezy & Rutter, 1983;Garmezy, 1985; Zimrin, 1986)

(Dugan & Coles, 1989).

Previous research suggests that resilience protects against the negative effects

of the stress on the symptoms of depression and mental illness in children, youth,

and also in the adults. (Anyan, Hjemdal, & Worsley, 2017).

Self-concept, according to Ryan and Deci (2000), is about consciousness or self-

evaluation, which reflects a person's sum of qualities and beliefs in a given situation.
It is a steady or generalized sense of self that is thought to reflect a person's entire

complete sense of self (Leonard, Beauvais, & Scholl, 1999).

When compared to those who have a poorer function of creating a healthy

personality, those who are in the process of establishing their self-concept and healthy

personality enjoy better satisfaction and resilience (Joshy & Raj, 2013). According to

Zahra (2010), who studied the positive and negative components of self-concept, both

positive and negative self-concept are the product of our thinking, and both can

impact our behavior. You can sense your capabilities and skills when you have a

good self-concept, and you can also receive positive performance from others.

Overall, having a positive self-concept boosts self-esteem and leads to more

socially acceptable behavior. People having a negative self-concept also affirm their

unpleasant emotions, according to another study by Sikhwari (2014). People

eventually lose their ability to balance their personal and social actions. Self-concept,

as defined by Bandura (1977), is one of the crucial components that plays an

important part in protecting academic accomplishment. Self-concept means that there

are specific capacities to construct practical courses that fit one's needs to reach

certain goals.

According to Sagone & De Caroli (2014), environmental mastery, personal

progress, and self-acceptance are all highly related with resilience abilities, and boys

reported the greater degrees of satisfaction for life than girls, with late adolescents

reporting the greater degrees of satisfaction for life than middle adolescents.

According to Harter (2015), gaining work opportunities, getting accepting peers,

getting loving parents, and teachers all play a role in building self-concept, . Adults

enhance their leadership skills and broaden their life experiences. In addition, the
responsibility of teachers and parents is discussed, as well as the need of sustaining

adults' self-concept.

In addition, according to Bharathi & Sreedevi (2016), adolescence is one of

the periods of development connected with cognitive, emotional, and social changes,

and structural changes of adult self-concept happen throughout this period. Adults

generally utilize characters that are complicated, abstract, and psychological. In the

research by Emery, Gardner, Carswell, and Finkel (2018) self-concept and self-

esteem are also improving. The adult period, on the other hand, is a time of increased

sensitivity to rapid learning and significant performance. Adults, on the whole,

contain a strong individuality and through which they may project their identity in the

world. Recovery, resistance and transformation are the three components of

resilience, according to O'Brien & Sygna (2013). The capacity to absorb or withstand

impact is referred to as resistance. The capacity to recover refers to a person's ability

to recuperate. Personal, cultural, organizational, institutional, and systemic changes

are all part of the transformation process.

According to Joseph & Linley (2006), social bonds, intellectual functions,

social bonds, positive self-concept, cognitive adaptability, stubbornness, emotional

management, optimism, hope, competence, and flexibility are all linked to resilience.

Our society's psychological and wellbeing aspects and positive emotions, on the other

hand, assist people in developing individual and societal flexibility, and the necessity

of social communication plays an important role in resilience (Zautra, Arewasikporn,

& Davis, 2010).

Self-concept is one of the most important components in social resistance,

social competence, and resilience, according to Rutter (1979, 1985). As a result,

students must employ protective measures in order to adjust to their new environment.
Also, resilience is a preventative measure that aids students in adjusting to their new

surroundings, and a student with high resilience has a good self-concept (Werner,

2000). According to Fassig (2004), high levels of resilience are characterized by

optimism, positive self-concept, and a sense of control, all of which aid the individual

in adapting to the environment. As a result of a positive modernization process,

stressful events can be controlled in a new setting. Emotional concentration and

behavioral mismatch are also affected by resilience.

In this study, Kearney (2010) looked at the differences in self-efficacy, ethnic

background, resilience, self-concept, and accomplishment between talented and non-

talented African-American children. According to the study, intelligent pupils have a

better level of resilience and better self-concept than non-intelligent pupils. Students

that are more resilient and have a positive self-concept have higher self-efficacy and

effectiveness. African-American students, especially those which

are highly resilient and having positive self-concept, were discovered in this study.

Furthermore, protective factors, as explained by Leary & DeRosier (2012),

are risk, distress, and incompatibility modulators which result in a reduction of

negative consequences of problems and an increase in favorable outcomes. Positive

self- concept, family and friend support, and sociability were found to be protective

variables in this study. From the Julie and Emmanuel's tales, Glazzard and Dale can

be viewed to have a good self-concept and resilience to potential attributes such as

teacher-student relationships, understanding of their practical skills in connection to

their academic ability, and making space. Julie and Emmanuelle were both conscious

of their behaviors by comparing themselves to people around them, particularly their

siblings, peers, and classmates, in order for those around them to contain a bad effect

on their self-concept as a whole (Glazzard & Dale, 2013).

 Stress appraisal, the self-efficacy, resilience and one‘s self-concept, on the

other hand, were found to have moderate to significant correlational links in major

study which was conducted at the Southeast State University. In the study,

understanding of emotional distress reflects events, or more accurately, stress

assessment indicates higher self-efficacy self-evaluation and lower self-concept.

There is some positive association between a person‘s self-concept and his resilience.

Additionally, stress assessment predicted a poorer level of resilience (Cody, 2013).

Positive attitudes regarding cognitive impairment, like social anxiety disorder

and depression, are linked. Self-esteem and being optimistic about oneself might help

to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and depression (de Hullu, Sportel, Van Tuijl, &

Nauta, 2014). According to the results of the study conducted by Jayalakshmi and

Magdalin (2015), resilience skills have a really significant and strong association with

the mental wellbeing of female university students. People with strong resilience have

qualities such as the ability to cope with stress, awareness and discover positive

points, self-confidence, and deliberate strategies to overcome their difficulties,

according to the findings of this study (Jayalakshmi & Magdalin, 2015).

There was no substantial difference in the rate from sex to hydration based on

sexuality and study program in a study conducted in Malaysia to evaluate resilience

levels amongst international students in Public Higher Education Institutions in

Malaysia. However, age has a huge impact on one's level of resilience. However, this

study found that students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees had a moderate

amount of resilience, whereas undergraduate students have a low level of resilience.

(Subhan, Amat, Bakar, Abdidin, Faisal, Tohirin & Kamin, 2015).

In addition, Mikolciová and Uricová found the relationship between the

resilience of a student and his self-concept, finding that there was a positive
relationship between the resilience and self-concept. Students will be better equipped

to grasp and deal with tough situations when they have greater confidence in their

talents. The most important finding of this study was that by developing positive self-

concept, we might improve resistance and hence contribute to improved academic

achievement and increased life satisfaction (Miškolciová & Ďuricová, 2015).

In a research at Andrews University, Willis and Burnett (2016) discovered that

the capacity to maintain stressful life is dependent on the resilience variables.

Furthermore, the researchers assert that there was an inverse relationship between the

self-concept, resilience, stress, and that each of these factors is related to the

other. Higher levels of stress were found to be significantly linked to a negative self-

concept and a lack of resilience in both female and male students.

According to a study of first-year students' adaptive abilities at a Turkish

university, measures of resilience and resilience amongst social variables have the

most important impact in adaptation of student life risks (Rahat &lhan, 2016). There

was no considerable distinction between the self-concepts of the talented and non-

talented students, according to a research by Koir, Horvat, Aram, and Jurinec (2016),

but it is noteworthy that the level of self-concepts of talented boys is higher than those

of the non-talented boys of the same age.

It means that gifted girls have a lesser level of self-concept than girls who

aren't labelled as gifted. The researchers also point out that individual differences

between these pupils must be taken into account (Košir, Horvat, Aram & Jurinec,

2016). Furthermore, according to Jaureguizar, Garaigordobil, and Bernaras (2018),

resilience, self-concept and social skills serve a moderating effect in childhood

anxiety and depression. Furthermore, the researchers stated that improving one‘s

concept of self, his social skills and the resilience can work as a coping mechanism
against the anxiety and other mental illnesses. One of the most essential variables in

diagnosing depression symptoms and managing with stress is one's self-concept and

resiliency.

According to a study conducted among American undergraduate social

work students to identify the relation between academic distress and student

resilience.

Academic stress has a detrimental impact on student resilience and his social

support (Wilks & Spivey 2010).

Furthermore, improving resilience in students reduces stress in the students, and in

addition to lowering stress, it also predicts life satisfaction in the students

(Abolghasemi & Varaniyab, 2010). According to a research by Shi, Wang, Bian, and

Wang (2015), academic stress reduces life satisfaction, yet resilience can help in this

case since resilience acts as a moderator between academic distress and life

satisfaction. The study's main finding is that resilient teenagers had higher life

satisfaction and a positive self-concept than their peers. Resilience is defined by a

child's overall traits. (Anthony & Cohler, 1987).

Khodapanahi, Fathi-Ashtiani, & Tarkhorani, (2007) states that the individuals

having a good self-concept are tend to respect themselves as well as the others, they

have a stronger ability to adapt, adjust and participate in the interactions with other

people, carrying on an active role, which in turn boosts their self-confidence, and is

also linked to more adequate stress-coping mechanisms, and it lowers the risks of

depression and other mental iillnesses (Morales, 2017).

Arslan, 2016b suggests that the research has emphasized on the mediator function of

resilience in the time of adversity (Gooding, Hurst & Tarrier, 2012), emphasizing its

moderating influence on a person's mental health and his welfare, (Shi, Bian, &
Wang, 2015) (Karreman & Vingerhoets, 2012). In spite of adversity, (Rutther 2006)

discovered that resilient people have better developmental results.

Arslan (2016b) claimed that resilience plays a vital role and considered as a

mediator in the relationship between the psychological mistreatment and a variety of

psychological and behavioral issues. Furthermore, studies has shown that resilience is

somehow positively linked to a person's level of satisfaction in his life. (Tümlü &

Recepoğlu, 2013) (Shi et al., 2015) (Karreman & Vingerhoets, 2012).

Pande and Bajaj (2016) suggested that resiliency mediated the relation between

consciousness and the youth perceived well-being to some extent. These findings

show that resilience may play a significant part as a potential and important mediator

in the relation between the resilience and person‘s life happiness.

SSC, which is the self-concept clarity is viewed as the structural characteristic of

one‘s self-concept that refers to the internal, persistent, yet temporally constant

feature of a person's self-beliefs system which are clearly and firmly articulated.

(Campbell, Heine, Katz, Lavallee, & Trapnell, 1996).

Furthermore, the research has also discovered that the SCC is a very persistent

attribute, with low SCC being linked to the chronic analysis of one‘s self (Campbell,

1996). SCC, according to the Campbell (1990), comprises of an evaluative component

linked to the self-concept (a person‘s own evaluation of his worthiness), and as well

as a component of knowledge focusing on one's degree of assurance about one's

concepts regarding the individual traits. As a result, it would appear to be natural that

an individual's stress perception, his capability to adjust according to the hardship,

and ruminative actions and behaviors are all effected or related to a person's sense of

self. Actually, research has linked SCC to the personality traits such as agreeableness,

extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness; symptoms of depression, long-term

and short-term stress adaptation (Biesanz, DeLongis, Lee-Flynn & Pomaki, 2011),

rumination of one‘s self (Simsek, 2013), and the gender biases (Csank, &

Conway, 2004).

Life satisfaction will not appear to be a consistent characteristic. The

following is a summary of the findings: To begin with, life satisfaction doesn't quite

remain constant over time, especially not for the lifelong course. Second, life

contentment is not unaffected by changes in living circumstances. Finally, the

satisfaction isn't solely a result of one's own efforts. Personal qualities and group

orientations do have an impact on life evaluations. The societal version of this theory

implies that liking or disliking life is part of a shared national identity. Some

civilizations have a pessimistic attitude on life, whereas others are upbeat.

(Veenhoven, 1994).

As, according to the Veenhoven (1995b), the concept of life evaluation

believes that the satisfaction is the actually the consequence of a differentiation of the

existing life and the desired life. Expectations of the desired life or how the future life

should be are thought to be based on the judgments of what events are possible and

the comparisons with others. These comparison criteria are thought to differ from

each other. This implies that there is not a single way to attain long-term happiness,

either on an individual or communal basis.

This theory suggests that satisfaction is a transitory state at an individual level. People

will be content when life approaches perfection, but as they get closer to perfection,

they will prefer to set higher standards, leaving them just as unsatisfied as before.

This hypothesis also indicates that average satisfaction likely to be neutral at the

social level (Veenhoven, 1989).

 If the individual citizens' contentment and discontent balances out, then the

country's average could not go far from zero. The scientific proof for the hypothesis

of relative life contentment. This idea implies that alterations in the living standards,

descending from high to low or vice versa, that will have no long-term impact on life

satisfaction (Veenhoven, (1994b). According to research, life satisfaction and

resilience are linked in a consistent way. Fredrickson, et al. (2003) discovered a link

between resiliency and life satisfaction. Resiliency was also found to be linked to life

satisfaction. The levels of life satisfaction of resilient students were much greater

than those of having low-resilience.

According to King (2000), resiliency was not only positively associated to life

satisfaction among divorced people, but it also directly influenced life satisfaction.

Resilience is defined by Cicchetti & Luthar (2000) as "a construct denoting the

retention of a positive adjustment by the individuals notwithstanding considerable

adversity." In spite of a high-risk position, chronic stress, or serious trauma, the term

resilience is defined as the potential for successful adjustment, the positive affect, or

person‘s competence. (Carlson, Egeland, & Stroufe, 1993).

The degree to which an individual positively views his quality of life as a whole is

referred to as one‘s life satisfaction. To put it another way, how much does the person

like their life? One of the main criteria of ‗apparent' life quality is the life satisfaction.

It reflects how well people flourish when combined with indications of mental and

physical health (Veenhoven, 1984). Bailey and Snyder (2007) conducted research on

life satisfaction and discovered that it was linked to self-competence, self-efficacy,

aspiration, locus of control, and looking for social help when needed. Resiliency is

aided by hope, locus of control, positive self-concept, self-efficacy, and by seeking

social help. Resilience has a negative relationship with stress (Cooke, Doust, Steele,
2013, Ahern & Norris, 2011) and a positive relationship with life satisfaction (Cohn

& Fredrickson, 2009).

Resilience has been linked to lower levels of depression, distress, and burnout

in a multi-institutional research of medical students in the United States (Bacchi S &

Licinio J, 2017). These findings were backed up by research from China and

Australia, which demonstrated a link between resilience and low mental distress (Liu

L, Shi M, & Wang L, 2015,), subjective well-being (Leino- Kilpi H, Guo Y, Zhao

F,

& Suhonen R, 2016), and life satisfaction (Shi M, Wang L, 2015).

However, there are few research on resilience among dentistry and medical

students, as well as in Saudi Arabia. Rather of helping individuals cope with their

psychological discomfort, assessing the positive aspects of their mental health can

provide a measurement model for future interventional research aimed at raising

students' wellness. Previous research conducted on the relationship between one‘s

resilience and his life satisfaction has shown that changes in resilience predict changes

in life satisfaction across time (Cohn et al., 2009).

Resilience not only predicts pleasant emotions and life satisfaction, but it also

regulates the relationship between the two (Kjeldstadli, 2006). In a longitudinal

research of Norwegian medical students, it was discovered that not just the resilience,

but also psychological distress, distinguishes students with greater levels of life

contentment from those of having low or unstable degrees of life satisfaction. As

previously stated, majority of the earlier studies focused on the resilience and the

perceived distress as determinants of the satisfaction for life (Kjeldstadli et al., 2006).

A vast empirical studies reveals that the resilience is linked to a variety of key

life outcomes, which is consistent with the above attributes of resilience: emotionally

healthier and more adapted (Bonanno, 2004) (Chaudieu, Ritchie & Stewart, 2010),
greater intrapersonal and interpersonal adjustment and adaptation during the lifetime

(Klohnen, 1996), the greater levels of self-competence (Benetti, 2006) quicker

cardinal recovery from the negative feelings or emotions, and even more positive

meanings discovered in the unpleasant situations (Fredrickson & Tugadee, 2004) and

much lesser anxiety and more flourishing in the time of hardship (Davydov, 2010)

such as after a natural disaster or even a life-changing real tragedy (such as the

terrorist attacks happened in the September 11, 2001) (Fredrickson, Larkin & Waugh,

2003).

Resilience can assist people improve their life satisfaction by acting as a

coping mechanism for their satisfaction for life (Brown, Cohn, Conway, Fredrickson,

& Mikels 2009) (Pek, & Finkel, 2008). In both successful and unsuccessful students,

Abolghasemi & Varaniyab (2010) has revealed that the psychological resilience

indicated improved satisfaction of life described by Haddadi & Besharat (2010). They

discovered that the resilience is highly correlated to the person‘s psychological well-

being and adversely linked to mental distress, anxiety, and depression. Increases in

the personal resources (like; resilience) were likewise linked to higher satisfaction for

life and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to Fredrickson, (2008).

The findings highlight that the resilience play a vital role in enhancing the people's

overall life satisfaction and levels of happiness (Cohn, 2009) (Bonanno, 2004). This

could be because of the reason that the individuals with greater resiliency are more

likely to successfully meet the life's obstacles, adjust flexibly to life's stresses, and

even become prosperous, healthy, and satisfied in the future (Bisconti, Ong,

Bergeman, & Wallace, 2006).

Resilience has gotten a positive impact on the person‘s life satisfaction in

general. According to current research, a woman's personality has a big part in

determining whether or not her life is satisfying. In the short term, however,

proximate contextual influences (such as recent life experiences) can alter life

satisfaction evaluations. Both nature and nurture, seem to play a role in determining

life pleasure, so it would be scientifically and conceptually ineffective to dismiss one

theory in preference of the other (Beautell, 2006).

Chipperfield and Havens (2001) conducted research to compare life

satisfaction between people who experienced a change in marriage status and those

that had a constant marital status over a seven-year period. Women's life satisfaction

decreased while men's stayed consistent amongst those whose marital status held

steady over the 7-year period. There was a drop in the life contentment among people

who went through a transformation - particularly the loss of a marriage - for the both

genders, with the decrease is being more prevalent for the men. Furthermore, gaining

a spouse increased men's life happiness during a 7-year period, but this was not the

case for women. In general, these findings suggest that men and women have

different relationships with marital status changes or constancy.

Women's antagonism toward other women was found to be adversely related

to their life happiness in a research by Sousa & Lyubomirsky (2001). The women

who retained angry attitudes toward other women, on the other hand, were less likely

to be content with their own lives. People's opinions of their life satisfaction,

according to the study, are influenced by comparison they draw between how much

they have, what they really want, what they once had, and what everyone else have.

As a result, unfavorable social comparisons may lead to animosity against other

women. That is, acknowledging that yet another woman is plainly better off than

oneself could be linked to discontent of one's own life.

2.1 Rationale of the Study

Although awareness regarding mental health and self- acceptance through

social media and other mediums is spreading wide these days, but there is still need to

perform indigenous psychological research on the subject of satisfaction from life and

the role that self-concept and resilience plays in it. This study particularly focuses on

women particularly those who are enrolled in university. This research will help

readers understand how their ability to bounce back from adversity, their sense of self

can lead them to live a life that gives them satisfaction and contentment.

2.2 Hypotheses

 There is expected to be a significant association between self-concept,

resilience and life satisfaction in women

 Self-concept would significantly predict of the life satisfaction in women

 Resilience would be significantly predicting the life satisfaction in women

2.3 Objectives

 To find out association among self-concept, resilience and life satisfaction in

women

 To determine whether or not self-concept is a predictor of life satisfaction

in women

 To determine whether or not resilience is a predictor of life satisfaction

in women
Chapter III

Methods

This section will introduce all the methodological processes and the statistical

procedures which are used in this study. Furthermore, Research design, study

population, sampling strategy, materials, recruitment of participants and data analysis

will be discussed.

3.1 Design

This research is quantitative in nature. Researcher employed quantitative

method because it will help to employ already existing theories, mathematical models

and the generated hypothesis relating to the phenomena (Nakajima & Telyukova,

2017). Also, this research opt for the correlational design because this procedure

attempts to find out the relationship and correlation between two or more variables

(Wu, 2018).

3.2 Population and the Sample

The sampling strategy used for this study is purposive sampling technique

which makes sure that the respondent which were recruited have experience the

phenomena themselves. Sample size was determined to be 100. This study is focused

on finding out relationship among self-concept, resilience and satisfaction from life in

women, so respondents were all female students who were approached from Leads

University, Lahore by using purposive sampling technique, which is one of the most

promising sampling technique for the situations where researcher aims to choose

sample purposefully that suits their study variables (Etikan, Musa & Alkassim, 2016).
3.2.1 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Participants who were in the age range of 18-25 and enrolled in BS Hons and

M.Sc were included for participation in this study. Participants who did not fall in this

age range or were not currently enrolled in BS or M.Sc program were excluded.

3.3 Materials

This study uses three scales to measure the self-concept, resilience and life-

satisfaction. This section details the psychometric properties of Satisfaction with Life

Scale, Nicholson McBride Resilience Questionnaire and Robson Self-concept

Questionnaire.

3.3.1 Satisfaction with Life Scale

The SWLS developed by Diener (1985) is designed to ask questions directly

from individuals about their satisfaction through life, 7-point Likert scale is used to

answer these questions. This measure with five-item ensures high values of reliability

(vt D .92). For the external criterion of validity of SWLS its clinical rating, measure

of memory and peer reports are used. When compared with other scales, predictive

validity and reliability of the SWLS are promising. SWLS shows to have good ranges

of validity and reliability which make it a suitable tool for measuring one‘s

satisfaction with life with a people from different age ranges, which is time and cost

effective compared to other scales of life satisfaction. SWLS assesses satisfaction

with one's life as a whole. This tool can‘t measure satisfaction with other domains of

life such as relationships or financial states but it integrates and adds these domains in

no matter what way they pick. Data on this scale are presented in the form of

normative data.
3.3.2 Nicholson McBride Resilience Questionnaire

NMRQ was developed by McBride which is a scale with 12 item that

measures resilience. Resilience is assessed and measured on five pt Likert scale,

which has options from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Score between 0-37

accounts for an emerging levels of resilience, scores which lie in the range of 38-43

specify a healthy and established resilience, scores which lie between 44 and48 shows

a very strong resilience and the scores lying between 49 and 60 shows an

exceptionally high levels of resilience. The Cronbach‘s Alpha value of 0.76 shows a

good reliability.

3.3.3 Robson Self-Concept Questionnaire (RSCQ)

Developed by Philip Robson, RSCQ is a self-report measure which assesses

the self-concept. It is a 30-ietm measure which is comprised of seven dimensions of

self-esteem, five point likert scale is used to score these questions which range

from

―completely agree to ―completely disagree. Seven point likert scales was chosen by

Robson after vigilantly viewing and analyzing the theoretical and empirical data.

After careful examination of Psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire, it was

administered on different samples including men and women (82) whose age ranges

were 18-30, 43 of which were patients and 124 were students of psychology. These

examinations suggest that the scale has a decent reliability. SCQ has a good reliability

as its value of Cronbach‘s α is 0.89 and the validity score as of clinical validity is

0.70. RSCQ seems to be a suitable instrument for measuring self-concept in different

clinical settings and in psychological research because of its exceptional

multidimensional and preliminary psychometric characteristics.

3.3.4 Socio-Demographic Form

Socio-demographic form is the set of questions was developed for this

particular study to gather information about few demographics which are; gender,

age and qualification.

3.4 Data Collection Procedure

The data collection was formally started after taking official permission from

supervisor and research committee, the respondents were purposefully recruited from

BS and MSc programs of Leads University Lahore, all of these respondents were

currently enrolled in BS and MSc programs. Initially, the study participants were

briefed about the basic concepts and purpose of study. Participants were provided

informed consent to ensure their voluntary participation. Mode for data collection was

chosen to be online, through Google forms. Participants were then provided with

questionnaire which comprised of self-concept, the Nicholson McBride Resilience

Questionnaire (NMRQ) and Life satisfaction questionnaires. After collecting a total

of 100 responses, researcher stopped the data collection process and these responses

were exported to excel sheet format which helped in saving time and energy that

manual data entry requires.

3.5 Operationalization of the Constructs

3.5.1 Self-concept

Self-concept reflects an individual's accumulation of qualities and beliefs in a

given situation. It is a generalized or consistent sense of self that is considered to

reflect a person's entire comprehensive image of oneself (Leonard et al., 1999).

Different dimensions of the self; contribute to self-respect in proportion to their

vitality (Kling et al., 1997).

3.5.2 Resilience

Resilience is a healthy and positive alteration in comeback from hardships

(Waller, 2001). Resilience is a psychological concept that refers to a person's ability

to manage challenges and hardship. This style of coping leads to the person bouncing

back to the former condition of normal and healthy functioning.

3.5.3 Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction is based on individual comparisons in both self-driven criteria

also as perceived life situations. Likewise, satisfaction from life is an individual's

subjective assessment pertaining how well his or her most significant needs,

ambitions, and desires have been met (Frisch, 1998).

3.6 Data Analysis Procedures

In this research, the tool which was opted for analysis of data was SPSS. The

correlation analysis were used to see if there is any relationship between self-concept,

resilience and life satisfaction. The Regression analysis is also employed in order to

check prediction of these components.

3.7 Ethical Consideration

Throughout the research ethics were not compromised starting from the

process of recruitment, briefing about the research topic, the purpose of study and role

of respondents, data collection, coding, using their responses for statistical analysis

and in reporting the results afterwards. All the respondents were very clearly educated

about the rationale of study and the reason of research, importance of their

participation, rights they possessed as a research participant and the process of data

collection, its analysis and all the way to its results. Only the individuals who

voluntarily chose to give their responses were selected. Their confidentiality,

anonymity and privacy was respected and their information was used only for the
purpose of research. Formal permission and consent was asked before taking their

responses (see appendix A).

3.8 Conceptual Framework

Self-concept

Life satisfaction

Resilience
Chapter IV
Results

This research proposed to explore the association among self-concept,

resilience and life satisfaction. The data analysis strategy comprised performing the

following statistical analysis, (I) Descriptive Statistics and Reliability Coefficients of

the research variables, (II) Correlation Analysis employed to explore the relationship

among self-concept, resilience and life satisfaction. (III) Multiple Linear Regression

Analysis employed in order to establish predictors of life satisfaction.

4.1 Reliability Analysis

Reliability analysis is employed to find out the values of Cronbach‘s alpha

reliability of the study measures e.g., Robson self-concept questionnaire, Nicholson

McBride resilience questionnaire and life satisfaction scale in women who were

currently enrolled in Leads university, Lahore (n=104).

Table 4.1
Reliability Coefficients for Robson self-concept questionnaire, Nicholson
McBride resilience questionnaire and life satisfaction scale (N=104)

Scales K M SD Α

LSQ 6 29.13 5.26 .693

RSCQ 12 41.41 5.25 .707

NMRQ 30 100 11.04 .787

Note: α= Cronbach’s alpha; k= Number of items; M= Mean values; SD= Standard
Deviation, RSCQ= Robson self-concept questionnaire, NMQR=Nicholson
McBride resilience questionnaire and LSQ=life satisfaction questionnaire.
Table 1 signified the reliability coefficient of scales i.e., Robson self-concept

questionnaire (RSCQ), Nicholson McBride resilience questionnaire (NMQR) and life

satisfaction Questionnaire (LSQ). Analysis represened that Cronbach‘s alpha value of

RSCQ is (α=.707). The Cronbach‘s alpha value of NMQR was (α=.787). Cronbach‘s

alpha reliability of LSQ is (α=.693). The results showed that the estimated internal

consistency of all the instruments used was optimum and adequate.

4.2 Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive analysis showed the mean value, standard deviation, percentage

values and frequency of variables in Study sample of the current study (n=104) in

terms of age of the participants, gender and education (class)

Table 4.2
Demographic Traits of Study Sample (N=104)
Characteristics M SD F %

Gender
Female 104 100
Age (Years) 1.30 5.19
Education (Grade) 1.21 .455

BS (16 yr education) 50 50
M.Phil, M.S (18 yr education) 27 25
MSc (16 year education) 27 25

This table represented the percentage values, frequency, mean values and

standard deviation of demographics of women who were recruited in BS, MSc, M.

Phil and MS programs. Table 2 signified that mean age of the study sample who

participated was (M = 1.30, SD = 5.19). Most of the study sample lies amongst the

age ranges of 17-25 yrs. Table depicted that 50% women were enrolled in BS

program while other 50% women were enrolled in MSc and M.Phil program from

which 25% were from M.Phil program and 25% were from MSc program. The mean

qualification of these participants was (M = 1.21, SD = .455).

4.3 Inferential Statistics

Inferential statistics were calculated and employed by the help of IBM SPSS

22 with the intention of validating the hypotheses which were generated in this

research. Correlation and Multiple Linear regression analysis were employed and are

explained in this section.

Table 4.3

Inter-Correlations between Research Variables (N=104)

Variables 1 2 3
1. LSQ - .411**

2. NMQR - .472**

3. RSCQ .291** -

M 4.85 3.45 3.35

SD .879 .442 .375
Note: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; M= mean; Robson self-concept questionnaire
(RSCQ), Nicholson McBride resilience questionnaire (NMQR) and life
satisfaction Questionnaire.
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level.

Table 3 presented that Correlation analysis which was bivariate correlation, it

was employed to compute the inter-correlations between study variables. The

descriptive statistics table of these findings signified highly positive correlation

between self-concept, resilience and life satisfaction in women who were currently

enrolled BS, MSc, M. Phil and MS programs of Leads University, Lahore.

 There pertains a significantly positive relation among Self-concept & Life

satisfaction (r=.291**, p<.01). Findings suggested, higher the values of Self Concept,

it is linked with higher values of Life Satisfaction. Results signified very strong and

positive relationship amongst Self-concept & Resilience (r=.472**, p<.01). Findings

represent that more values of Self-concept linked to resilience. A strong and positive

relationship was observed amongst resilience & Life satisfaction (r=.411**, p<.01).

Findings also display, if the values of Resilience are higher it was linked with Life

satisfaction.

4.4 Regression Analysis

Regression Analysis was computed and performed by using multiple linear

analysis using IBM SPSS 22 with the aim of testing study hypothesis.

Table 4.4

Descriptive Stats
M SD N
LS 4.8522 .87994 104
R 3.4532 .44231 104
SC 3.3579 .37565 104

Table 4 suggests the mean and standard deviation of Dependent and Independent

components. Mean of Life satisfaction (4.8522), Resilience (3.4532) and Self-

concept is (3.3579). However, Standard deviation of Life satisfaction (0.8799),

Resilience (0.4423) and Self-concept is (0.3756).

Table 4.5

Model Summary

Model R R2 Adjusted R2 Std. Error

1 .425a .181 .165 .80430

a. Predictors: (Constant), SC, R

Table 5 indicates the value of R Square to be 0.181 which depicts that two

independent variables are causing 18% change in the dependent variable. However

the value of Adjusted R Square is 0.165 which is lower than R square value showing

that Adjusted R Square is valid. Value of Standard error of the Estimate shows the

uncertainty associated with the estimation for which the value is 0.8, which is optimal.

Table 4.6

ANOVA Analysis

Sum of

Model Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 14.416 2 7.208 11.142 .000b

Residual 65.337 101 .647

Total 79.753 103
a. Dependent Variable: LS
b. Predictors: (Constant), SC, R

The F value of Anova analysis shows whether or not regression analysis is an

excellent suitable analysis with this data set. Here the table presents that IV

statistically and strongly predicts the DV which shows that regression analysis is a

suitable choice for this study and its data set. Significance value 0.00 which is lower

than 1 shows a statistically significant value of Anova analysis.

 55

Table 4.7

Variables Entered/Removed

Model Variables Entered Variables Removed Method

1 SC, Rb . Enter

a. DV: LS

Table 7 shows the model in which both Independent variables are included which

shows that Self-concept & Resilience put a strong impact on Dependent variable LS.

Table 4.8

Coefficients

Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta T Sig.
1 (Constant) 1.454 .782 1.859 .066
R .700 .203 .352 3.444 .001
SC .292 .239 .125 1.221 .225
a. Dependent Variable: LS

Table 8 shows each of individual impacts of independent variables on the dependent

variable. As the P value shows that both variables put a significant impact on the

Dependent variable. T values show that significance of this regression model is

optimal. The value of unstandardized Co efficients show how much does Independent

variable varies the dependent variable if all other variables are kept constant. +ve B

values shows that increase in Resilience and Self-concept individually increase the

levels of Life satisfaction.

4.5 Summary of findings

 Reliability analysis estimates that Cronbach‘s alpha reliability coefficients of the

study measures e.g., Robson self-concept questionnaire, Nicholson McBride

 resilience questionnaire and life satisfaction scale in women are significant and

optimal.

 Descriptive analysis show the sample sizes, mean values, Std Deviation and

frequency of Demographics.

 Inferential statistics were used to measure Correlation and Regression analysis.

The Correlation (bivariate) was employed and performed to explore correlations

between study variables. The descriptives of findings depict highly strong and

positive correlation between self-concept, resilience and life satisfaction

 Regression analysis shows that IVs strongly and on statistical level apprehend the

DV that suggests that regression model is a suitable choice for this datum set.

 More variables are required to be explored which put a significant effect on the

Life satisfaction of women.

Chapter V
Discussions

The Spectrum of chain of the inter related concepts which depict life

satisfaction and an overall sense of gratitude in one‘s life is a crucial matter to explore

this study aimed specifically at highlighting how these ideas link together in women.

How do women achieve life satisfaction and what is the role of resilience (one‘s

ability to jump back to normal after trauma or adversity) and the self-concept (how

one sees herself). This study generated three primary hypotheses. Each of which was

attempted to be addressed by using statistical analysis for empirical evidence. The

software used for this purpose was IBM SPSS version 22. The result sections show

pretty decent values of significance which makes this study a good presentation of

computing Life satisfaction, resilience and self-concept in women indigenously.

1st Hypothesis suggests a significant relationship among self-concept, resilience and

life satisfaction in women. Results of this current study have shown positive and

strong relationship amongst self-concept, resilience & life satisfaction. Correlation

analysis show strong and positive correlation among Self-concept and Life

satisfaction (r=.291**, p<.01). Findings showed that more value of Self Concept is

linked with more values of Life Satisfaction. There was highly significant strong and

positive correlation between Self-concept and Resilience (r=.472**, p<.01). Findings

suggested more values of Self-concept linked to resilience. It depicted a strong and

positive relationship among resilience & Life satisfaction (r=.411**, p<.01). Findings

showed that more values of Resilience are linked to Life satisfaction.

These findings confirm the findings of other studies which suggest that Self-

concept is one of the most important components in social resistance, social

competence, and resilience, according to Rutter (1979, 1985). As a result, students

must employ protective measures in order to adjust to their new environment. Also,
resilience is a preventative measure that aids students in adjusting to their new

surroundings, and a student with high resilience has a good self-concept (Werner,

2000). According to Fassig (2004), high levels of resilience are characterized by

optimism, positive self-concept, and a sense of control, all of which aid the individual

in adapting to the environment. As a result of a positive modernization process,

stressful events can be controlled in a new setting. Emotional concentration and

behavioral mismatch are also affected by resilience. In this study, Kearney (2010)

looked at the differences in self-efficacy, ethnic background, resilience, self-concept,

and accomplishment between talented and non-talented African-American children.

According to the study, intelligent pupils have a better level of resilience and

better self-concept than non-intelligent pupils. Students that are more resilient and

have a positive self-concept have higher self-efficacy and effectiveness. African-

American students, especially those which are highly resilient and having

positive self-concept, were discovered in this study. Furthermore, protective factors,

as explained by Leary & DeRosier (2012), are risk, distress, and incompatibility

modulators which result in a reduction of negative consequences of problems and an

increase in favorable outcomes. Positive self-concept, family and friend support, and

sociability were found to be protective variables in this study.

Second Hypothesis shows, Self-concept would be a significant predictor of the life

satisfaction in women, Correlation analysis show that it was strong positive

relationship amongst Self-concept & Life satisfaction (r=.291**, p<.01). Findings

showed that more values of Self Concept is linked with more values of Life

Satisfaction. From the Julie and Emmanuel's tales, Glazzard and Dale can be viewed

to have a good self-concept and resilience to potential attributes such as teacher-

student relationships, understanding of their practical skills in connection to their

academic ability and making space. Julie and Emmanuelle were both conscious of

their behaviors by comparing themselves to people around them, particularly their

siblings, peers, and classmates, in order for those around them to has negative effect

on their self-concept (Glazzard & Dale, 2013). Stress appraisal, self-efficacy,

resilience & self-concept, on other hand, were found to have moderate to significant

correlational links in a major study conducted at Southeast State University.

Third Hypothesis was that Resilience would be a strong predicting factor of

the satisfaction with life in women, results of study show that, it signifies positive

relationship amongst resilience and Life satisfaction (r=.411**, p<.01). Findings

suggested that more values of Resilience are linked with Life satisfaction. Literature

also suggests that Resilience can assist people improve their life satisfaction by

acting as a coping mechanism for the life satisfaction (Cohn et al., 2009; Fredrickson

et al., 2008). In both successful and unsuccessful students, Abolghasemi

(2010) revealed that resilience indicated improved satisfaction in life. Haddadi (2010)

discovered resilience is highly correlated to individual‘s well-being and adversely

linked to mental distress, anxiety, and depression. Increases in personal resources

were likewise linked to higher satisfaction and fewer depression related indications,

according to Fredrickson (2008). These results highlight role of resilience of

enhancing human's overall sense of satisfaction. It could be that individuals with

higher resilient qualities tend to successfully fulfill life's obstacles, adjust flexibly to

life's stresses, and reach to prosperous, health and satisfied. (Bonanno, 2004; Ong et

al., 2006). Resilient qualities have a positive impact on sense of satisfaction in

general. According to current research, a woman's personality has a big part in

determining whether or not her life is satisfying. In the short term, however,

proximate contextual influences (such as recent life experiences) can alter life
satisfaction evaluations. Both nature and nurture, seem to play a role in determining

life pleasure, so it would be scientifically and conceptually ineffective to dismiss one

theory in preference of the other (Beautell, 2006).

5.1 Conclusions

This study gives a layout of how Life satisfaction is effected by Resilience and

Self-concept. An overall picture that this study presents is that if an individual

specially female has a strong sense of self and their self efficacy is high which leads

to their belief that they can face adversity and deal with the worst. This belief make

them capable of bouncing back from trauma and adversity. When paired with few

successful examples individual tends to effectively cope with the issues they face and

it can lead to a better sense of satisfaction from life and even gratitude. This study

shows to what extent these factors inter relate and how significantly strengthen the

other.

5.2 Limitations and Implications

Due to lack of time and resources, limited data could be approached it would

have been an interesting study to conduct in Pakistan overall. More variables can be

explored which significantly effect and predict the extent of life satisfaction. More

sophisticated softwares like PLS smart could have been used. These variables can be

explored qualitatively to get a more in depth insight of the respondents. Furthermore,

researchers can employ mediational analysis to see the mediational role of resilience.
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Appendices
 Appendix A
Consent Form
Consent Form

Dear Participant,

Thank you for participating in this study. The title of this study is “Self-concept,

Resilience and Life satisfaction among women”. Participation in this study is

voluntary. The interview responses will be audio-taped. Limited access will be

allowed to your information merely for the purpose of research. Your identity will be

kept confidential while the data obtained will be published. Your participation in this

study is highly appreciated and it will directly benefit the study. You will be provided

with a report about the results and conclusions of the research project on your request.

As mentioned earlier the participation is completely voluntary and you are free to

decline the participation at any time.

Please complete the following part if you are willing to participate in this study.

Thank you,

Department of Psychology

Lahore Leads University.

Signature of Participant: Date:

 Appendix B
Demographic Sheet
Demographic Sheet

Gender: Male/Female Birth order

Age No. of Siblings
Education Mother
Education
Father Education family System: Nuclear/Joint
Socio-economic status:
Lower/Middle/Upper
Appendix C
Scales
I would like to know what thoughts about life you have had during the past
several weeks. Think about how you spend each day and night, and then think
about how your life has been during most of this time. Here are some questions
that ask you to indicate your satisfaction with life. Mark a tick in the box of your
answer.
Life terribl unhapp mostly mixe mostly happ delighte
Satisfactio e y dissatisfie d satisfie y d
n Scale d d
I would
describe
my
satisfaction
with my
family life
as:
I would
describe
my
satisfaction
with my
friendships
as:
I would
describe
my
satisfaction
with my
school
experience
as:
I would
describe
my
satisfaction
with myself
as:
I would
describe
my
satisfaction
with where
I live as:
I would
describe
my
satisfaction
with my
overall life
as:
 Robson SCQ
Name ...................................................... Date: / /
This questionnaire deals with attitudes and beliefs which some people have about
themselves.
Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement by ringing the
single number in each section which represents how you typically feel most of the
time.
Since people vary so much in the opinions they hold, there are no right or wrong
answers.
Complete Disagree Agree Complete
ly ly
Agree
Disagree
1. I have control over my own life. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. I‘m easy to like. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. I never feel down in the dumps for very long. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4: I can never seem to achieve anything worthwhile. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5: There are lots of things I‘d change about myself if I 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
could.
6. I am not embarrassed to let people know my opinions. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7: I don‘t care what happens to me. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8: I seem to be very unlucky. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. Most people find me reasonably attractive. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. I‘m glad I‘m who I am. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11: Most people would take advantage of me if they could. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. I am a reliable person. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13: It would be boring if I talked about myself. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
14: When I‘m successful, there‘s usually a lot of luck 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
involved.
15. I have a pleasant personality. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16. If a task is difficult, that just makes me all the more 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
determined.
17: I often feel humiliated. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
18. I can usually make up my mind and stick to it. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19: Everyone else seems much more confident and 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
contented than me.
20: Even when I quite enjoy myself, there doesn‘t seem 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
much purpose to it all.
21: I often worry about what other people are thinking 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
about me.
22: There‘s a lot of truth in the saying ―What will be, will 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
be‖.
23: I look awful these days. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
24. If I really try, I can overcome most of my problems. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
25: It‘s pretty tough to be me. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
26. I feel emotionally mature. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
27: When people criticise me, I often feel helpless and 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
second-rate.
28: When progress is difficult, I often find myself thinking 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
it‘s just not worth the effort.
29. I can like myself even when others don‘t. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
30. Those who know me well are fond of me. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Scores on the Robson SCQ

NB You do not have to score the Robson yourself (or any of the others) — the
database has an automatic scoring system, and experience in the pilot was that there is
a high rate of human error in scoring this particular questionnaire! The information
below is for those who are interested only.
Scoring
Some items are scored as printed, others are reversed.
 The 14 ‗normal‘ items (Qu 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 24, 26, 29, 30) have
a full stop after the question number (e.g. 2.) — scoring for these is taken
straight off the scale as printed.
 The 16 ‗reversed‘ items (Qu 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27,
28) have a colon after the question number (e.g. 4:) — scoring is reversed for
these (i.e. 0 = 7, 1 = 6 etc).
 Add up the numbers obtained like this to get the total score.
Norms
Reference group Mean total score S.D.
From Robson (1989):
70 controls with ―...no evidence of psychological disorder...‖ 137.0 20.2
51 patients with DSM-III GAD 108.0 24.8
47 consecutive referrals to Psychotherapy Dept 99.8 24.0
From Robson (personal communication)
200 controls 140.0 19.8
From Romans, Martin & Mullen (1996) [New Zealand sample]:
225 women from random community sample (those who did not 147.4 25.8
report CSA)
252 women from random community sample (those who did report 138.8 29.6
CSA)

Pooling the Robson control samples gives an estimate for the ‗normal‘ mean in
British samples = 139.2 (SD=19.9); so to simplify a bit for routine clinical use we
take it as mean = 140, SD = 20.
References
Robson (1989). Development of a new self-report questionnaire to measure self-
esteem. Psychological Medicine, 19, 513-518.
Romans, Martin & Mullen (1996). Women‘s self-esteem: a community study of
women who report and do not report childhood sexual abuse. British Journal of
Psychiatry, 169, 696-704.
David Westbrook
October 1997
NMRQ
This is an abbreviated version of the Nicholson McBride Resilience Questionnaire
(NMRQ). For each question, score yourself between 1 and 5, where 1 = strongly
disagree and 5 = strongly agree. Be honest: understanding the specific areas in
which you lack resilience will enable you to get the most out of our 10 point
booster plan.

Resilience Questionnaire Score

1. In a difficult spot, I turn at once to what can be done to put things right.

2. I influence where I can, rather than worrying about what I can‘t

influence.

3. I don‘t take criticism personally.

4. I generally manage to keep things in perspective.

5. I am calm in a crisis.

6. I‘m good at finding solutions to problems.

7. I wouldn‘t describe myself as an anxious person.

8. I don‘t tend to avoid conflict.

9. I try to control events rather than being a victim of circumstances.

10. I trust my intuition.

11. I manage my stress levels well.

12. I feel confident and secure in my position.

TOTAL
 Appendix D
Plagiarism Report