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Vol. 5 No. 9 (2026): Issue 9 (September Issue)

View Vol. 5 No. 9 (2026): Issue 9 (September Issue)

Discipline: Social Sciences (Miscellaneous)

Published: 2026-09-30

Articles

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Efficacy of Surah Al-Rehman Listening Therapy on the Psychological Capital of Competitive Civil Service Candidates: A Quasi-Experimental Inquiry

Komal Usman, Dr. Wahida Anjum, Maryam Gul

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-viii.426
The Central Superior Services (CSS) examination in Pakistan demands high cognitive concentration, sustained academic effort and significant adaptive ability to academic failures. Psychological Capital (PsyCap), a higher-order construct of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, is an important internal resource for optimizing performance and resisting stress in high-stakes evaluations. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a structured Surah Al-Rehman listening intervention on the PsyCap dimensions of Muslim CSS candidates (N=50) who failed the written examination and had low baseline PsyCap scores. A 7-day spiritual protocol was applied to participants, who were assessed with the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24) before and after. A single-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used, with participants being assessed with the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24) before and after the seven-day spiritual protocol. Overall PsyCap was significantly higher at posttest (M=4.48, SD=0.39) than at pretest (M=3.34, SD=0.41), t (49) =14.80, p<.001, d=2.09, and significant increases were found in the four subscales of PsyCap: self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism (ds=1.77-1.92; p<.001). The PCQ-24 showed high internal consistency (α=.89). The results of this study suggest that spiritually integrated interventions may be useful in high stress academic settings. Findings of the study are discussed in the cultural context of Pakistan.
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Evaluating Deterrence and Strategic Stability in South Asia: The Precarious Equilibrium

Ayesha Rana

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.431
The strategic situation in South Asia is one of the most complex environment of modern international security scenario. The trilateral nuclear situation in the region between Pakistan, India, and China has become a trilateral dynamic of security and instability, known as the ‘Stability- Instability Paradox'. This article revisits the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence theory in the context of changing counterforce doctrines, remarkable technological advances like Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs), sea-based nuclear triads, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and the structural decay of bilateral crisis management mechanisms. The study examines militarised stand-offs in the period from 1999 to 2026, showing how bilateral episodes have always remained at lower intensities in the presence of nuclear deterrence even in the high-intensity phase of military conflict, such as Kargil (1999), the Twin Peaks Standoff (2001-2002), the Balakot crisis (2019), the BrahMos accidental missile launch incident (2022), and the May 2025 Military conflict. Yet as India has recently and is currently operationalising its nuclear sea-based-third-strike capability, through commissioning of its first nuclear submarine M04-missile-armed S3- INS Arighat (August 2024), sea trials of its second submarine-launched ballistic missile S4- INS Aridhaman (April 2026) and test-firings of the 3,500 km-range K-4 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) (December 2025), second-strike conditions in the maritime domain have been tangible and first-strike temptations have grown. The answer is to close operational gaps at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels, which is the objective of Pakistan's Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD). Finally, the article suggests multi-level policy recommendations for Pakistan in the diplomatic, political, strategic and military spheres to maintain strategic balance.
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8-17
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Ideological Fencing: A Fenced Border, an Unfenced Mind in Pakistan

Muhammad Irfan

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.432
Over the last 50 years, the story has silently replaced the soldier in the twenty-first century. This article defines what people refer to as 'ideological fencing', in which the deliberate construction and protection of a controlled, indigenous ideology is meant to protect a nation's 'cognitive territory' as walls and trenches once did for its physical territory. The article discusses the history of the border in the four phases — physical, legal-cartographic, ideological (cold war) and digital — and suggests that the border has been moved from the ground, to the map and to the mind — with states that protect only the first two protecting a line that no one is going to challenge. Based on Gramsci's concept of hegemony and the organic intellectual, it analyzes how the U.S., China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey practice ideological fencing, and then considers the central case of Pakistan, a ‘state built on an idea', which has physically fenced its most hazardous border while simultaneously establishing an ideological buffer in Afghanistan — that is, a ‘buffer' narrative — in the imitation of the British empire's ‘buffer' policy. The article concludes with a blueprint of five programmes to build an indigenous fence of Pakistan in its own ideology, but not in borrowed narratives, based on Iqbal's reconstructive method.
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18-26
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Demographic Differences in Perceived Acceptance, Emotional Intelligence, and Social Anxiety among Adolescents in Islamabad, Pakistan

Maryam Fayyaz, Dr. Fayyaz Ahmed Anjum, Uroosa Jamil, Muhammad Umar Fayyaz

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.423
Adolescence is a period of heightened social evaluation, and the levels of perceived acceptance, emotional intelligence (EI), and social anxiety that young people report may differ across demographic groups. This cross-sectional study examined gender, age, grade-level, and institution-type differences in these three constructs among 300 adolescents (150 boys, 150 girls; age 10–19 years, M = 14.16, SD = 2.46) recruited by convenience sampling from private, semi-government, and government institutions in Islamabad, Pakistan. Participants completed the Perceived Acceptance Scale, the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test, and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (fear and avoidance subscales). Boys scored higher than girls on EI, t(298) = 3.32, p = .001, d = 0.38, and on social anxiety avoidance, d = 0.66, whereas girls scored higher on fear of negative evaluation, d = 0.83; perceived acceptance did not differ by gender. Perceived acceptance was higher in mid-adolescents (14–16 years) than in early adolescents, F(2, 297) = 3.87, p = .022. Students in Grades 11–12 reported more fear and avoidance than younger students, and government-school students reported more fear and avoidance than semi-government-school students, whereas EI was highest in private schools. EI was negatively related to avoidance (r = −.15, p = .009), but perceived acceptance was unrelated to the other variables. The findings show that adolescents’ emotional and social functioning varies systematically by demographic group and point to gender-sensitive, grade-targeted, school-based prevention.
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AI-Generated Evidence and Public Trust in Criminal Justice: The Mediating Role of Digital Forensic Awareness

Muhammad Khan, Muhammad Essa Khan, Quaim Abbas

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.430
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the criminal justice system has changed the way in which evidence is collected, analyzed and used for decision making. While AI-generated evidence can greatly enhance efficiency, accuracy, and forensic analysis of investigations, public trust is a significant consideration for its effective implementation. This research explores the connection between the perception of evidence created by AI, digital forensic awareness, and public confidence in justice. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design is used, and data is collected from 300 respondents such as Pakistani university students, public and legal professionals. Analysis of data is done by SPSS with reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis and mediation analysis. The results showed that the trust in criminal justice is significantly affected by perceived reliability of the evidence provided by AI. Also, evidence perception is found to have a positive impact on the awareness of digital forensics, and digital forensic awareness has a significant positive impact on public confidence in justice-related processes supported by AI. The mediation analysis indicates that the perception of digital evidence created by AI is a crucial mechanism by which AI impacts on public trust, with digital forensic awareness playing a significant role in this process. Additionally, the study underscores the need for raising awareness, transparency, and knowledge regarding digital forensics to facilitate the responsible and trustworthy incorporation of AI technologies into criminal justice systems.
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38-53
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Framing the Future: A Corpus-Assisted Analysis of Stance Markers and Evaluation in Pakistani English Newspaper Coverage of Generative AI

Hafiz Sajjad Hussain, Amina Riasat, Ayesha Tariq

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.433
This study investigates how Pakistani English-language newspapers construct and evaluate generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) through stance markers and evaluative language. Drawing on a specialized Pakistani GenAI Newspaper Corpus (PGNC) comprising 347 articles and 378,456 words from Dawn, The Express Tribune, and The News International, the study adopts a corpus-linguistic approach informed by Conrad (2002), Egbert, Larsson et al. (2020), and Hunston and Thompson (2000). Articles published between 2022 and 2025 were analyzed using AntConc through frequency, keyword, collocation, concordance, and semantic-prosody analyses, followed by contextual interpretation. The findings reveal a predominantly developmental representation of GenAI. Positive appreciation constitutes 65% of 18,765 evaluative instances, while negative judgment accounts for 28% and neutral or ambivalent evaluation for 7%. Stance resources occur at 32.9 instances per 1,000 words, with hedges (12.9) outnumbering boosters (8.5) and positive attitude markers (7.9). Diachronic analysis indicates a shift from booster-heavy optimism in the early period toward increased hedging and negative judgment by 2025. Cross-newspaper differences are also evident: The Express Tribune exhibits the highest overall stance density (35.6 per 1,000 words), Dawn records the highest hedge density (14.3), and The News International demonstrates the highest negative-attitude density (6.7). Semantic-prosody findings show that “revolutionary” predominantly evokes positive developmental meanings, risk is frequently mitigated through hedging, and “Pakistan” appears in deontic constructions emphasizing national urgency. Overall, Pakistani English-language newspapers localize global GenAI discourse by balancing developmental aspirations with increasing caution, reflecting evolving perceptions of technological opportunity, uncertainty, and national priorities.
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Environmental Governance Innovation and Community Climate Resilience: The Mediating Role of Institutional Trust

Muhammad Arshad, Abdul Rehman Khan, Rabia Chaudhary, Dr. Nijah Akram

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.425
Environmental challenges around the world have been exacerbated by climate change, highlighting the importance of innovative form of governance that builds up the resilience of communities in their ability to survive and react to climate risks. This study explores the linkage between environmental governance innovation and community climate resilience and explores institutional trust as a possible mediator. The approach used was quantitative and data was gathered from 350 respondents in climate vulnerable communities of Pakistan using a structured questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS software through reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis and mediation analysis. The results show that innovation in environmental governance has important effects on driving community climate resilience via mechanisms of participation, transparency, collaboration and adaptive capacities. The findings also show that environmental governance innovation can have a positive impact on institutional trust, and that institutional trust could have a significant effect on improving community resilience. The findings of the mediation analysis support an understanding that trust in institutions is one important pathway for how governance innovation leads to better climate resilience outcomes. This study integrates the theories of trust-based institutional relationships into the field of environmental governance to shed light on the importance of trust-based institutional relationships to effective climate adaptation. The results indicate that participatory, transparent and inclusive governance systems are needed to boost the credibility of governance institutions and resilience of the communities to climate-related challenges.
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67-82
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The Effect of Working Memory Capacity on Calendar Savantism Performance: A Quantitative Study

Pareesa Zahid, Dr. Rabia Iftikhar

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.429
Among the most reported savant skills is the ability to calculate the day of the week from a given date, known as “calendar calculation.” However, the cognitive resources required for this skill remain insufficiently quantified. The authors investigated how working memory (WM) capacity affects calendar savant performance in accuracy, speed, and solving complex calendar problems. This quantitative cross-sectional study involved 200 participants who provided working memory scores and three calendar performance scores. Pearson correlation examined relationships between subscales, simple linear regression evaluated individual data points against simple and complex predictions, multivariate regression examined predictions across low, medium, and high working memory groups, and one-way ANOVA assessed simple predictions across groups. All three outcomes were significantly predicted by working memory capacity. It explained 51.2% of accuracy variance (beta = .72, p < .001), 31.2% of speed variance (beta = −.56, p < .001), and 35.0% of complex calculation variance (beta = .59, p < .001). The high working memory group demonstrated larger effect sizes (eta squared = 0.30–0.38), achieving greater accuracy, faster responses, and better complex problem-solving than the medium and low groups. Accuracy effects were significantly larger than those for speed and complex calculation and remained robust against outliers, non-normality, and cross-validation. The three outcomes were no longer associated when working memory was controlled. These findings indicate that working memory capacity strongly predicts calendar calculation performance, which cannot be explained by rote memory alone. Future savant studies should evaluate working memory alongside calendar calculation skills.
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83-97
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Post-2024 Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations: Political Transition and Pragmatic Bilateral Realignment

Zaheer Ahmad, Fazilat Jahan, Dr. Ghulam Mustafa

doi https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/v-ix.434
The 2024 political transition in Bangladesh has ushered in a new chapter in Pakistan–Bangladesh relations. The departure of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024 ended the Awami League’s long-standing political supremacy and provided room for a reconsideration of Bangladesh’s internal and external goals. The establishment of the interim government under Muhammad Yunus did not lead to an immediate shift in Bangladesh’s foreign policy but it did pave the way for a more flexible diplomatic arena where Dhaka could revisit its ties with regional partners like Pakistan. This research consequently discusses the impact of leadership change in Bangladesh on the direction, tone, and substance of PAK-Bangladesh relations after 2024. This qualitative research examines the post-August 2024 period and discusses PAK-Bangladesh ties in three main sectors: diplomacy, economy, and strategic collaboration.
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