Comparison of Self-Strength, Seeking Help and Happiness between Pakistani and Chinese Adolescents: A Positive Psychology Inquiry

Abstract

Adolescents’ emotions and preferences are influenced by their childhood experiences. In today’s world, there is a pervasive eagerness for happiness. Happiness has been linked to feelings of self-strength, seeking help, and psychological health. The current quantitative research was designed with a positive psychological perspective to compare Pakistani and Chines adolescents’ self-strength, seeking help, and happiness. The research design of the study was causal-comparative. The study population consisted of 400 Pakistani and 409 Chinese adolescents studying in the elementary grades of both countries. The sample was selected by using a simple random sampling technique. It consisted of 413 boys (51%) and 396 girls (49%), 319 (39) of them were from the age group of 13– 14 years, 386 (48%) of them were from the age group of 15–16 years, and 104 (12.9%) were from the age group of 17–18 years. Three different scales were developed to collect study data. Independent sample t-test and simple linear regression were used to test study hypotheses. The analysis revealed that Pakistani adolescents have significantly higher self-strength, seeking help and happiness than their counterparts. It was also found that adolescents’ self-strength and seeking help significant affect their happiness. Based on the findings, it was suggested to investigate the factors contributing to the improved self-strength, seeking help, and happiness of Pakistani adolescents. It was also recommended to investigate the mediating effect of adolescents’ self-strength on the relationship between their happiness and seeking help.