Psychology in India

Sir
Brojendra
Nath
Seal:
Introduced
psychology as a subject in the Philosophy
Department of Calcutta University in 1905.
In 1916, the first Department of Psychology
was established at Calcutta University.
In 1924, the second Department of
Psychology was established at Mysore
University.
In 1946, the third Department of Psychology
was established at Patna University.
University of Allahabad- Social change and
development
Utkal University- Social Disadvantage
A. N. Sinha Institute- Social Values, Motives,
and Leadership.

 Social psychological research and publications

began as early as the 1920s.
First textbook in social psychology- By Indian
social psychologists [R. K. Mukherjee
(Sociologist)
&
Sengupta
(Experimental
Psychologist), 1928).
Earlier experimental investigations on group
effects on performance by Sengupta and Singh
(1926). It was modelled on Allport study.
Studies on rumour was conducted by Prasad
(1935, 1950) and D. Sinha (1952).
Prasad (1935) examined the responses to the
earthquake in Bihar in 1934 and published
analysis of earthquake rumours in 1950.

 Later, D. Sinha (1952) studied rumours and

behaviour of people in catastrophic situations.
These three early studies were used by Leon
Festinger (1957) in the formulation of his theory of
cognitive dissonance.

 Adinaryans (1941) research on colour prejudice

published in the British Journal of Psychology laid
the foundation for later work in the area of attitude
and prejudice.
Social psychology in India has witnessed changes
in thrust areas as well as research methodology.
The trend of unconnected studies and replications
of western findings is part of the Indian research
reality.
The establishment of the Indian Council of Social
Science Research (ICSSR) in 1969 was another
landmark. The ICSSR started supporting research,
training, and publications in psychology and other
social science disciplines.

 The 70s and 80s witnessed the beginnings of

Doctoral programmes with course work. These
programmes provided opportunity for young
researchers to get training in indigenous context
and more appreciative of the social reality.

Dominant Research Themes

Attitude, prejudice, and intergroup relations:
Adinarayans (1941) research on attitudes and
prejudice.
The caste-based identities, self-perception, intercaste relationships, and caste-related tensions are
some of the areas studied by social psychologists.
Rath and Sircar (1960) analyzed inter-caste
relationships and examined attitudes and opinions
of six caste group and found that the lower caste
groups perceived themselves negatively.

 Two decades later, Majeed and Ghosh (1989), in

their study of scheduled castes, found that they do
indeed devalue their own group. The author call this
affective syndrome crisis, denoting deep-seated
unresolved identity crises.
On the basis of a series of studies conducted in the
Netherlands and India, De Ridder and Tripathi
(1992) recognized the prominence of group norms
in intergroup behaviour. In their theory, norm
violation by one group leads to a chain of negative
reactions by both groups and, if this sequence
continues, it is likely to escalate violent behaviour.

 Social motives and development:

In the post- independence era, research on
achievement
motivation
and
entrepreneurial
development was undertaken in response to the
national agenda for planning and development.
Low need for achievement was recognized as the
root cause of Indias underdevelopment (McClelland,
1961).
Attempts were made to identify obstacles to
economic development and this resulted in
examining behavioural bases and correlates of
dependence proneness (J. B. P. Sinha, 1970), a
typical response repertoire of Indians.

 Social influence processes:

The NT (nurturant task) model of leadership
developed by J. B. P. Sinha (1980, 1994) shows that
effective leadership style in India is personalized and
is centered on Shradha (deference) for the leader by
the subordinates and nurturance and Sneh (affection)
for the subordinates on the part of the leader.

 Poverty, deprivation, and social justice:

Studies were conducted to investigate poverty and to
examine the social- psychological, developmental,
and educational processes related to it (Misra &
Tripathi, 2004).
L. B. Tripathi and Misras (1975) work on prolonged
deprivation needs special mention as it led to
significant changes in the measurement of
deprivation in real- life conditions.

 Environment and behaviour:

Pandey (1990) explored a close relationship between
environment, culture, and behaviour.
Based on his research, Jain (1987) published a book
on crowding and its consequences.
A number studies were conducted at Allahabad
(Nagar & Pandey, 1987; Ruback & Pandey, 1991) to
explore
the
environment-cognition-behaviour
relationship.

 Health beliefs and behaviour:

A number of researchers have concentrated on the
study of religious beliefs, yoga, and indigenous
healing traditions.
Dalal (1998) proposed a cognitive model of
psychological recovery hypothesizing a relationship
of interdependence between causal attribution and
perception of control and found support for the model
in his studies.

 Health beliefs and behaviour:

A number of researchers have concentrated on the
study of religious beliefs, yoga, and indigenous
healing traditions.
Dalal (1998) proposed a cognitive model of
psychological recovery hypothesizing a relationship
of interdependence between causal attribution and
perception of control and found support for the model
in his studies.

 Social values and development:

In a systematic study of middle-class values, J.B.P.
Sinha and his associates (J.B.P. Sinha & Sinha,
1974) have identified a set of values that, by and
large, are harming to development. J.B.P. Sinha
(1988) has argued for utilization of the existing
values, reinterpreting them so as to make them
conducive to development.
D. Sinha (1988) has suggested identification of
values that may be regarded as functional to
development as well as those that are dysfunctional
for national development.