Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Resilience and Coping in First Generation Hindu Families in Australia: A Narrative Account (#437)

Tanmayi Chari 1 , Rachana Bhangaokar 1
  1. Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

This paper explores the role of culture-specific spiritual coping and the consequent resilience developed by Hindu families living in Brisbane, Australia. While the concept of resilience has been examined in literature, there is little acknowledgement on acquiring resilience through narrative cultural knowledge and daily spiritual practices. The research began as a video project, and upon hearing participant stories of migration and settlement, grew into a qualitative study. In-depth interviews were conducted with six first generation Indian families living in Australia for over 10 years about their experience of coping with acculturation stress and anxiety.  All participants identified themselves as practicing Hindus. Content analysis revealed non-overlapping themes that formulate the role of Hindu spirituality in coping with a new culture.  Findings suggest that spirituality helps families 1) recognise destiny 2) act with empathy towards a new culture, and 3) establish their character through subjective interpretation of Hindu moral principles.  When faced with tensions of rebuilding lives in a Western culture, spirituality and narrative cultural knowledge helped facilitate positive outcomes for the participants. The study demonstrates the presence of spirituality as both, a pathway to resilience and well-being as well as a significant predictor for quality of life and happiness.