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Health is an important internal resource which assures a good quality of life. From the very beginning health has been taken as whole and hale (Stone, 1979). Thus, it seems clear that emphasis on wholeness and personal and social factors in attaining and maintaining health has been a frequent view throughout the history. In 1946 the United Nation established World Health Organization (WHO). In the preamble of its constitution, it defined health…, as a state of compete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This definition makes it clear that mental health is an integral part of health and mental health is more than the absence of mental illness. According to the WHO 2001, mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own ability, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. Mental health for each person is affected by individual factors and experiences, societal structures and resources, and cultural values. It is influenced by experiences in every day life, in families and schools, on streets, and at work (Lahtinen, Riikonen & Lahtinen, 1997; Lahtinen et al. 1999). The mental health of each individual also affects the life in each of these domains and thus influences the health of community or population. Mental health is important at each stage of life but it becomes more important at the age adolescence. Adolescence is the developmental transition to adulthood that includes rapid change in the brain and body, often at different rates and is a time for healthy exploration of identity and also learning independence. It can be stressful and challenging phase for teens. Like in other countries of the world, there is growing concern in India about the mental health status of its youth. There is no doubt that healthy development during childhood and adolescence lay the foundation for good mental health and can prevent mental health problems. Developing the correct attitude or perspective towards life is very important in maintaining good mental health. School is one of the most important formal agencies of education as well as socialization. They are much more than settings for producing specific learning outcomes. They play a major role in moulding the ideas, habits and attitudes of children to produce well balanced, physically strong, mentally alert, emotionally stable, culturally sound and socially efficient personality. A school complex has many ingredients which directly or indirectly affect school organizational climate. Organizational climate covers the perception of members of organization, its working, interrelations between members, formal and informal values and norms and associated behaviour that are related to administration. School climate refers to and reflects the quality and character of school life. Freinerg (1999) describes it as “the heart and soul of the school…… that essence of school that leads a child, a teacher and an administrator to love the school and to look forward to being there each day”. According to Chohen, McCable, Michelli & Pickeral (2009) “A positive school climate helps people feel socially, emotionally and physically safe in school. It includes students, parents and school personnel’s norms, beliefs, relationship, teaching and learning practices as well as organizational and structural features of school.” According to National School Climate Council (2007) “A sustainable, positive school climate promotes students’ academic and social-emotional development. There can be various dimension of school climate. However, the factors that shape school climate can be grouped in to four main dimensions namely safety, teaching and learning (Academic climate), relationship (community climate) and the environment”.

Favorable school climate can lead to positive outcomes. Studies have revealed that it is associated to better academic performance, better mental health and less bullying (Thomas & Grimes, 2002). When students perceive their rules of class room, school discipline and overall safety as fair, there is less possibility that the students may have feeling of loneliness, anxiety and depression (Graphan et al., 2006; Ozer & Weinstein, 2004). Attitude are enduring aspects of personality which exert directive and dynamic influence on the thoughts, emotions and the actions of the person towards individuals’ objects, situations etc. with which they are concerned. Our attitude towards aur life may be classified into two broad categories as optimistic and pessimistic. Optimistic attitude reflects a belief or hope that outcome of some specific endeavor or outcome in general will be positive favorable and desirable. It is a way of perceiving the world, situations and efforts that fosters hope and positive outcomes. The term is derived from Latin word “optimum” which means the best. “Being optimistic”, in the typical sense of the word, is defined as expecting the best possible outcome from any given situation (Merriam-Webster). It is referred to in psychology as dispositional optimism. It thus reflects a belief that future conditions will work out for the best (Oxford English dictionary). For this reason, it is observed as a trait that fosters resilience in the face of stress (Weiten, Lloyd, Margaret ,2005). Contrary to this, pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which the person expects an undesirable outcome in any given situation. It focuses on negative aspects of life. In the ancient period, psychological pessimism was associated with Melancholy. Pessimism can be assumed to be parallel to depression. According to famous psychologist Aron Beck, Depression is due to unrealistic negative views about the world. Optimism has been found to be positively correlated with good health and better subjective well-being. Lee et al (2019) assessed the overall optimism and longevity of cohorts of men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging study and women from Nurses’ Health Study. The study found a positive correlation between higher levels of optimism and exceptional longevity which the study defined as “life span exceeding 85 years”. Aspinwall and Taylor (1990) also in their study observed that the freshmen who were high on optimism before entering the college, were feeling low distress as compared to their more pessimistic peers while controlling for the other personality factors. Over time, the more optimistic students were less stressed, less lonely, less depressed than their pessimistic counterparts.

The sample of the present study included 160 students, studying in different inter colleges of Agra city between the age range of 16 to 18 years. It included both males and females.

A 2x2 factorial design was used in the present study as the aim of present study was to investigate the independent as well as interactional effect of organizational climate and Optimistic-pessimistic attitude on mental health and its various dimensions.

The two independent variables and dependent variables of the study are as follows-

1.     Organizational climate- having two levels, favourable and unfavourable

2.     Attitude- Having two forms, Optimistic and pessimistic

The dependent variables of the study were overall mental health and its six dimensions. Due to inclusion of seven 2x2 factorial analysis, 21 hypotheses were to be verified empirically.

Table No-1 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2), Overall Mental Health

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate Of school	1428.02	1	1428.02	10.06	<.01
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	5085.02	1	5085.02	35.80	<.01
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	189.23	1	189.23	1.33	>.05

Table No-2 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2) Emotional Stability (ES)

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate Of school	20.30	1	20.30	4.46	<.05
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	204.65	1	204.65	44.98	<.01
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	0.51	1	0.51	0.11	>.05

 Table No-3 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2) Overall Adjustment (OA)

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate Of school	30.62	1	30.62	1.09	>.05
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	874.22	1	874.22	31.09	<.01
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	38.03	1	38.03	1.35	>.05

 Table No-4 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2) Autonomy (AU)

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate Of school	19.59	1	19.59	5.44	<.05
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	81.22	1	81.22	22.56	<.01
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	3.60	1	3.60	1.00	>.05

 Table No-5 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2) Security-Insecurity (SI)

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate Of school	16.90	1	16.90	5.45	<.05
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	99.22	1	99.22	32.01	<.01
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	13.23	1	13.23	4.27	<.05

 Table No-6 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2) Self-Concept (SC)

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate of school	31.50	1	31.50	6.20	<.05
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	29.75	1	31.50	5.86	<.05
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	6.01	1	6.01	1.18	>.05

 Table No-7 Summary of analysis of variance (2x2) Intelligence (IG)

S.No.	Cases	Sum of Square	df	Mean Square	F	p
1	Organizational Climate Of school	242.55	1	242.55	7.96	<.01
2	Optimistic-Pessimistic Attitude	41.00	1	41.00	1.34	>.05
3	Organization Climate of School x Optimistic-pessimistic attitude	0.76	1	0.76	0.02	>.05

 Table -8 Showing Mean Score of Mental health and its dimensions with reference to Organizational climate and Optimistic-Pessimistic attitude.

Mental Health & Its Dimensions	Organizational Climate		Attitude
	Favourable	Unfavourable	Optimistic	Pessimistic
Overall mental health	91.00	85.03	93.65	82.38
Emotional Stability	10.75	10.19	11.68	9.41
Overall Adjustment	27.18	26.30	29.08	24.4
Autonomy	11.24	10.54	11.6	10.18
Security-Insecurity	10.25	10.60	11.71	10.14
Self-Concept	11.31	10.43	11.30	10.44
Intelligence	19.54	17.08	18.8	17.8

 Data was analysed using ANOVA to obtain the independent as well as the interactional effect of organisational climate of school and optimistic-pessimistic attitude on the overall mental health and its six dimensions. The obtained results are given below:

a)     Overall Mental health: -Table 1 shows that the effect of organisational climate of school on overall mental health was found to be significant at .01 level [F (1, 152) =10.06, p<.01]. The mean score of overall mental health of school going adolescents with favourable organisational climate is larger than that of the unfavourable organisational climate. The mean score of mental health with favourable organisational climate is 91 whereas mean score of mental health with unfavourable organisational climate is 85.03 which makes it clear that the favourable school climate exerts positive influence on the mental health of students.

The effect of Optimistic-Pessimistic attitude on overall mental health was also found to be significant as the obtained F value [F (1, 152) = 35.80, p<.01] is significant at .01 level. The mean score of overall mental health of adolescents with optimistic attitude is 93.65 whereas the mean score of mental health with pessimistic attitude is 82.38. It clearly indicates that optimists are better in mental health as compared to pessimists.

The interactional effect of organisational climate of school and optimistic-pessimistic attitude on overall mental health was found to be in significant [F (1, 152) =1.33, p>.05].

b)    Emotional Stability: - Table 2 shows that organisational climate of school had significant positive impact on the emotional stability dimension of mental health [F (1, 152) =4.46, p<.05]. The mean value of emotional stability for favourable school climate was found to be greater (M=10.75) than that of unfavourable school climate (M=10.19). This indicates clearly that organisational climate of school affects the emotional stability of adolescents in a significant way. The effect of optimistic-pessimistic attitude on emotional stability was found to be significant at .01 level. [F (1, 152) =44.98, p<.01]. The mean value of scores of emotional stability with optimistic attitude (M=11.68) was higher than that of pessimistic attitude (M=9.41). It is obvious that the optimists are more emotionally stable than pessimists. The interaction effect of organisational climate of school and optimistic-pessimistic attitude was statistically insignificant [F (1, 152) =0.11, p>.05].

c)     Overall adjustment: - Table No-3 shows that the effect of organizational climate on overall adjustment was not insignificant as the obtained F value [F (1, 152) =1.09, p=>.05] is insignificant. It makes it clear that the school climate does not exert significant impact on the overall adjustment of adolescents. The Mean value of overall adjustment for favourable school climate was found to be greater (M=27.18) than unfavourable school climate (M=26.30). But the difference was not statistically significant.

The effect of optimistic-pessimistic attitude on overall adjustment was found to be significant as the obtained F value was significant at .01 level [F (1, 152) =31.09, p<.01]. This is also clear by Mean score of overall adjustment of adolescents with optimistic and pessimistic attitude and it is 29.08 and 24.4 respectively.

The interaction effect of organization climate and optimistic-pessimistic attitude was statistically insignificant [F (1, 152) =1.35, p>.05].

d)    Autonomy: - Table no 4 presents the effect of organisational climate on Autonomy dimension of mental health and it was found to be significant as the obtained F value is 5.44, which is significant at .05 level [F (1, 152) =5.44, p<.05]. The Mean autonomy score for favourable school climate is 11.24, whereas for unfavourable school climate is 10.55. Thus, it is clear that the favourable school climate encourages more autonomy in adolescents as compared to unfavourable school climate.

The effect of optimistic-pessimistic attitude on autonomy dimension of mental health was also significant as obtained F value was significant at .01 level [F (1, 152) = 22.56, p=<.01]. The mean value of autonomy scores for optimists is 93.65 whereas for pessimists is 82.38.

The interaction effect of organisation climate and optimistic-pessimistic attitude on autonomy dimension was found to be insignificant as the obtained F value is insignificant [F (1, 152) = 1.00, p<.05]. This clarifies that the organizational climate and optimistic-pessimistic attitude jointly do not have significant impact on autonomy dimension of mental health.

e)     Security-Insecurity: - (Table No 5) it is clear from the table that Organizational climate exerted significant impact on Security-Insecurity dimension of mental health as the obtained F vale is significant [F (1, 152) = 5.45, p<.05]. The Mean value of Security-insecurity dimension for favourable organizational climate is (M=10.25) and for unfavourable climate is (M=10.60). The results are contrary to the general notion.

The optimistic-pessimistic attitude also exerted significant impact on Security-Insecurity as the obtained F value is significant [F (1, 152) = 32.01, p<.01]. The optimists were more secure (M=11.71) than the pessimists (M=10.14).

Interaction effect of organizational climate and optimistic-pessimistic attitude on security-insecurity dimension was found to be significant [F (1, 152) = 4.27, p<.05]

f)     Self-Concept: - Table 6 shows that significant effect of organizational climate of school was observed on self-concept of adolescents [F (1, 152) =6.20, p<.05]. The mean value of the scores for favourable school climate (M=11.31) is higher than that of unfavourable school climate (M=10.43). It is indicated that adolescent who perceived their school climate as favourable, possessed superior self-concept than those who perceived their school climate as unfavourable.

The effect of Optimistic-pessimistic attitude on self-concept is also significant as the obtained F value [F (1, 152) = 5.86, p<.05] is significant. The Mean value of both the groups also indicated that the optimists were higher is self-concept (M=11.30) as compared to pessimists (M=10.44).

The interaction effect of organization climate and optimistic-pessimistic attitude on self-concept was insignificant [F (1, 152) = 1.18, p>.05].

g)    Intelligence: - Table 7 shows that impact of organizational climate on intelligence dimension of mental health was found to be significant [F (1, 152) = 7.96, p>.01]. The Mean intelligence score of participants with perception of favourable organizational climate (M=19.54) is higher than that of the participants with unfavourable perception of organizational climate (M=17.08).

The effect of optimistic-pessimistic attitude on intelligence was not significant [F (1, 152) =1.34, p<.05]. Although Mean intelligence score of optimists is (M=18.8) larger than their counterparts (M=17.8).

The interaction effect of both the variables on intelligence dimension was also insignificant [F (1, 152) =.02, p<.05].

The above description makes it clear that the organizational climate and optimistic-pessimistic attitude jointly don’t have significant impact on intelligence.

Discussion: - The study was conducted to investigate the effect of organizational climate and life orientation i.e., optimistic-pessimistic attitude on mental health as well as on its different dimensions. As it was a factorial design, 21 empirical hypotheses were formulated and it was found that only thirteen of them were accepted. The six empirical hypotheses related with the effect of organizational climate on overall mental health and its five dimensions were found to be true. This clearly indicates that the organizational climate of school has great impact on the mental health of its pupils. The organizational climate or school climate which refers to the quality and character of school life has been described as heart and soul of the school. A positive school climate helps students feel socially, emotionally and physically safe in the school. Studies has shown that school climate can directly affect the mental health and social-emotional well-being of students (Wang & Mang, 2009). The effect of social climate was found to be significant on overall mental health and on its five dimensions except for adjustment. Several studies have proved that positive perception of school climate has positive impact on students’ mental health and well-being.

   Raizada (2010) found that school education played a significant role in shaping the destiny of students. School culture and climate inculcated self-confidence, self-disciple, self-reliance and career mindedness values, manners, habits in a person right from childhood.

The quality of life within a school setting can promote the healthy social and emotional development of the students (McGiboney & Wade, 2016). Many factors related to positive school climate such as school belongingness, respect for the opinion of students and supportive relationship are directly involved in the psychological functioning of students (Wang & Degol, 2016).

In a study (Wang, 2009), it was observed that when the students perceive that they are getting emotional support from teachers and teachers promote autonomy and discussion, the students have less depressive symptoms.

Contrary to this, the results from various studies have proved that negative school climate can have detrimental effect on the psychological and socio-emotional well-being of students which can results in to various types of mental health problems (Wang, 2009).

The life orientation i.e., optimistic and pessimistic attitude towards life play a vital role in determining the mental health and well-being of adolescents. The results of the present study also confirm the fact that optimistic attitude towards life had significant impact on the overall mental health and its different dimensions except for the intelligence dimension.  This fact is supported by many studies. Puri and Nathawat (2008) studied the relationship of optimism with life satisfaction, happiness and personal growth in college females. The results revealed that students with high optimism scored higher on life satisfaction, subjective happiness and personal growth than their counterparts. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant.

Subramaniam and Nithyanandn, 2008 studied the role of optimism and hardiness in dealing with the negative life events. The results revealed that the students who were high on hardiness and optimism were more likely to engage in active or problem focused coping whereas the students low in optimism and hardiness were using emotion focused or avoidance coping strategies.  Active coping strategies are linked with higher levels of emotional well-beings and resilience in response to a variety of stressors (Coyle & Vera, 2013). Whereas the use of avoidance coping strategies is linked to psychological problems (Arslan,2017).

Similarly, Taseer, Ambreen, Khan & Fayyaz (2019) in their study of clinical and nonclinical sample found significant correlation between life orientation i.e., optimism and pessimism and mental health (r=0.78). In order to confirm the relationship of life orientation with mental health, further covariance of age, gender and education was controlled through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). It was revealed through results that life orientation explained 97% of variance in mental health initially, but after partialling out the covariance of demographic variables, life orientation still accounted for 55% variance in the score of mental health which was significant. 

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