ABSTRACT
The concept of psychological capital can be defined as an individual’s positive psychological resource, which consists of four components which are self-efficacy/confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience. Positive Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is a recently developed higher order construct applied in the context of organizations, which has been hypothesized to aid employees cope with stress effectively in workplace increasing their psychological and physical well-being. Coping strategies refer to the specific efforts, both behavioural and psychological, that people employ to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize stressful events by using rational, detached, emotional and avoidance coping. This study aims to explore the nature of Positive Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and Coping styles among male and female young adults and the relationship between PsyCap and Coping styles. Data were collected by using Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ) & Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ), administered on 100 participants aged between 18 - 25 years, from different colleges of Kolkata, using stratified simple random sampling method. Results indicated the following: 1) Hope and Resilience are significantly higher among female young adults than their male counterparts. 2) Detached and Avoidance coping style are significantly higher among male young adults & emotional coping style is significantly higher among female young adults. 3) Positive correlations exist between all the dimensions of PsyCap and functional coping style and negative relationship exists between dimensions of PsyCap and dysfunctional coping style. The study implies the effective use of PsyCap to promote positive outcomes, fostering development in young adult population.