Depression Survivors Among Emerging Adults: Their Healing Journey

This qualitative study explored the healing process of depression survivors among emerging adults with effective coping strategies utilised by them. A semi-structured interview was conducted on participants aged between 18-28 years old. A theme narrating the experience of the depression survivors were identified: The journey of healing - Crawling out of the quicksand. The survivors emphasised that to achieve healing, everything starts from within the self, and they had been putting in a lot of their extra efforts in helping themselves heal. They all went beyond recovery, where their efforts illustrated their focus on healing, thriving, and achieving optimal well-being upon recovery. Significantly, the relevance and applicability of the building blocks of Seligman’s PERMA model of well-being towards those efforts taken were revealed in the study. .

The Psychological States of Beggars in Malaysia: Happiness, Subjective Well-Being, and Gratitude

The economic downturn causes a fluctuation of Malaysian beggars with disrupted psychological states. The research focuses on happiness, subjective well-being, and gratitude among the beggars in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Ten beggars participated in an in-depth interview. Their selection was based on a purposive sampling technique. Findings show that with life satisfaction and maintained health conditions, they would be contented. Intolerable circumstances currently made the beggars wishing they could restart an ideal life to restore their subjective well-being. Amidst gratefulness, beggars tend to wake up with an appreciation for every little thing. However, the limited psychological care given has caused the number of beggars to escalate. The number of beggars would dwindle by appraising the public with what they necessitate through an awareness brought by findings from the study.

Quantifying Conventional Electroencephalogram Recordings and Examining its Output Computation with a Quantitative Electroencephalogram

Quantitative electroencephalogram enables mathematical analysis of neurological recordings while conventional electroencephalogram lacks the mathematical output; hence, its usage is limited to neurological experts. This study was to determine if quantified conventional electroencephalogram recordings were compatible and comparable with quantitative electroencephalogram recordings. A group of post-call doctors was recruited and subjected to an EEG recording using a conventional electroencephalogram followed by a quantitative electroencephalogram device. The patterns and quantified recording results were compared. A comparative analysis of the two recording sets did not find differences in the recording patterns and statistical analysis. The findings promoted the use of a readily available conventional electroencephalogram in quantitative brain wave studies and have cleared potential compatibility bias towards data merging.

Perceived Stress and Resilience among Private and Public Undergraduate University Students during Covid-19 Pandemic

This is a quantitative study that examines relationships between perceived stress and resilience among private and public undergraduates university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. In total, 160 undergraduate students had been gathered for this study's purposes. Two questionnaires were utilised in the research; the Perceived stress scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience were distributed among respondents through Google Form. The findings reported that there is a low negative relationship between perceived stress and resilience. Apart from that, the findings reported no significant relationship between perceived stress and genders. There was a significant relationship in perceived stress predicting the level of resilience among public and private undergraduates university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Undergraduates students had a moderate level of perceived stress thus needing a stress intervention or stress management in facing a stressful situation. Resilience is needed to be implemented in every educational system to help to build resilience among students.

Experiential Learning through Field Trips: Effects on Educational, Social and Personal Development among Linguistics Majors

The study explores a group of university students' perceptions towards field trips and the effect on their educational, social, and personal development. Data was collected using questionnaires and it has revealed that participants' overall perception of field trips was positive. Findings showed that participants preferred certain aspects of the field trips, particularly those on gaining new experiences and the opportunity to apply what they have learned. It helped improve their knowledge, interest, confidence, communication skills, social training, and awareness of the world around them. However, the least liked aspects were the pre-and post- activities, group size and time allocation. Future studies may want to examine and compare a more varied sampling of students from various fields and perceptions of different genders.

Exploring Managers’ Perspective on Factors Affecting Generation Y Retention

The study explores factors behind Generation Y employees' retention from the perspective of managers in a financial services sector. A qualitative method was employed, by interviewing eight managers as informants. The results show ten factors affecting Generation Y employees’ retention are compensation and pay, personal development, job security, job satisfaction, work-life balance, reward and recognition, training, leadership, relationship and communication, and work environment. Seven main challenges to retain Generation Y employees identified are loyalty, their love for a challenging job, communication, strategy, working style, satisfaction, and traits. The study discusses implications and suggestions for organisational level strategies to retain Generation Y employees.

Tingles, Triggers and Therapeutic Sensations: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) among Young Adults

This qualitative study explored the experiences of university students watching Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos towards psychological effects and mindfulness. ASMR experiences were shown to phenomenologically overlapped with mindfulness and well-being. This study entailed a phenomenological research method used in determining the nature of human experiences regarding a phenomenon through the descriptions of participants in the study. Snowball sampling method was used whereby locating the additional informants was expanded through the recommendation of others for interview. The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, Accomplishment (PERMA) Model were employed to analyse written interview transcripts. Findings revealed how participants viewed ASMR as applicable to enhance their well-being. ASMR is also seen as a potential benefit for participants to improve mindfulness; Participants also reported a better ability to cope with stress and a notable reduction in perception of cognitive workload. A future inquiry could investigate the effects of ASMR on specific cognitive activities.

Gratitude and Its Relationship to Resilience and Academic Performance among University Students

This study examines the relationship between gratitude, resilience, and academic performance among students of a public university in Malaysia. One hundred and forty-six samples were obtained through a simple random technique (N=235). The survey employed GQ6 (Gratitude Questionnaire), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and self-reported grade-point average (GPA) as its measurement tools. Correlation analysis shows that gratitude has a high positive relationship with resilience and academic performance. Findings from the study support those of previous studies about the importance of gratitude in improving student’s psychological resilience and academic performances. The study suggests that adopting a sense of gratefulness and appreciation helps students overcome challenges in their educational journey at university.

PLUS – An Academic Mentorship Guide for Undergraduate Studies: A Preliminary Study

This paper introduces an approach to academic mentorship, named PLUS, that specifically assist students in their academic performance through personalised guidance. Through the guidance of a mentor, PLUS lets mentees evaluate their strength and weakness before setting their target to achieve for each subject. Based on this preliminary study with 23 computer science undergraduate students by measuring their academic performance using the cumulative grade point average (CGPA), students that are not introduced to PLUS tend to perform inconsistently throughout their undergraduate studies compared to those introduced to PLUS. Weaker students (CPGA <2.8) with face-to-face guidance with a mentor using the PLUS approach displayed constant improvement compared to those who did not have any mentor. Regardless of what stage of their undergraduate studies the students are introduced to PLUS, all the students that applied PLUS showed consistent improvement and agreed that the method is valid. PLUS, personalised guidance helps the mentor connect with the mentee better, a good complement to the digital education lacking in human connection. It warrants further investigation beyond this preliminary study.

The Decision-Making Practices among Air Traffic Controllers during Conflict Resolution in Aviation Industry: A Case Study

The study explores decision-making practices among Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) in the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) in Sarawak, Malaysia, using the Cynefin Framework. The study intends to identify related factors that influence decision-making practices, explore how decisions are made during conflict resolution, and describe the coping strategies in decision-making practices by ATCOs. The qualitative phenomenology case study method was used to collect data and one-to-one interviews with the ATCOs. Content analysis is used to analyse the data. The findings showed that ATCOs types and working experiences influence the way they make decisions. Decision-making among ATCOs is like the Administrative Model in which they must follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as their strategies in decision-making. Findings contribute toward an understanding of current decision-making practices, which would inform relevant policies and professional training development programmes.