The Experience of Dispositional Optimism among Female African-Americans, Latinas/Hispanics, and Caucasians in Generation Z: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation

Location

Presentation- Waters College of Health Professions

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis Presentation (Restricted to Georgia Southern)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Daniel Czech

Faculty Mentor Email

.

Presentation Year

2021

Start Date

26-4-2021 12:00 AM

End Date

30-4-2021 12:00 AM

Keywords

Georgia Southern University, Honors Symposium, Presentation

Description

Mental health is becoming an increasingly important topic within Generation Z. 39% of college students in the United States reported experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety (Burwell, 2018). Conversely, researchers have shown an inverse relationship between high levels of optimism and depression, as well as between optimism and suicide ideation (Chang, Martos, Sallay, Change, Wright, Najarian, & Lee, 2016). Additionally, Optimism has been negatively correlated with negative psychological outcomes (Chang, et al., 2016). The purpose of this study will be to examine dispositional optimism within female Generation Z university students. Researchers will use a qualitative interviewing process to capture the full essence of an individual’s experience with optimism by asking the singular question “what does optimism mean to you?” Further probing questions will be asked to gather the most complete and detailed experience from the individual. The interviews will then be analyzed using a phenomenological analysis technique. From this, a thematic structure on the lived experience of Optimism will be created. Discussions of Optimism and future directions of optimism research will take place.

Academic Unit

Waters College of Health Professions

Comments

This work is archived and distributed under the repository's standard copyright and reuse license, available here. Under this license, end-users may copy, store, and distribute this work without restriction. For questions related to additional reuse of this work, please contact the copyright owner.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Apr 26th, 12:00 AM Apr 30th, 12:00 AM

The Experience of Dispositional Optimism among Female African-Americans, Latinas/Hispanics, and Caucasians in Generation Z: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation

Presentation- Waters College of Health Professions

Mental health is becoming an increasingly important topic within Generation Z. 39% of college students in the United States reported experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety (Burwell, 2018). Conversely, researchers have shown an inverse relationship between high levels of optimism and depression, as well as between optimism and suicide ideation (Chang, Martos, Sallay, Change, Wright, Najarian, & Lee, 2016). Additionally, Optimism has been negatively correlated with negative psychological outcomes (Chang, et al., 2016). The purpose of this study will be to examine dispositional optimism within female Generation Z university students. Researchers will use a qualitative interviewing process to capture the full essence of an individual’s experience with optimism by asking the singular question “what does optimism mean to you?” Further probing questions will be asked to gather the most complete and detailed experience from the individual. The interviews will then be analyzed using a phenomenological analysis technique. From this, a thematic structure on the lived experience of Optimism will be created. Discussions of Optimism and future directions of optimism research will take place.