<p>Indian psychologists have been discussing multiple important issues relevant for social development but with limited success in seeing their insights being implemented in actual government policy making. With new governments and major drives for social development, is it&nbsp;not yet time to make behavioral science an important knowledge domain for social planning? Placed in contrast to USA, this article underscores the present need for more engaging dialogues between Indian academic psychologists, organizations and the government and also suggests some preliminary directions.</p>

Sumitava Mukherjee

Humanities and Social Sciences

<p>IIM Indore seeks to be a contextually-relevant business school with world-class academic standards that develops socially-conscious managers, leaders and entrepreneurs. IIM Indore is committed to: Excellence in management education, research, and training, Use of contemporary participant-centric pedagogies and teaching methods, A presence in emerging segments of management education.</p>

IIM Indore

Psychological Studies

A key issue for political psychology concerns the processes whereby people come to invest psychologically in socially and politically significant group identities. Since Durkheim, it has been assumed that participation in group-relevant collective events increases one's investment in such group identities. However, little empirical research explicitly addresses this or the processes involved. We investigated these issues in a longitudinal questionnaire study conducted at one of the world's largest collective events—a month-long Hindu festival in north India (the Magh Mela). Data gathered from pilgrims and comparable others who did not attend the event show that one month after the event, those who had participated (but not the controls) exhibited heightened social identification as a Hindu and increased frequency of prayer rituals. Data gathered from pilgrims during the festival predicted these outcomes. Specifically, perceptions of sharing a common identity with other pilgrims and of being able to enact one's social identity in this event helped predict changes in participants' identification and behavior. The wider significance of these data for political psychology is discussed.

Fulltext

Political Psychology

How Collective Participation Impacts Social Identity: A Longitudinal Study from India

Psychology, Development and Social Policy in India

Salience of Indigenous Healing Practices for Health Care Programmes in India

Learning Disability: Issues and Concerns with Implications for Social Policy

Research on Distributive Justice: Implications for Social Policy

Psychological Impact of Poverty and Sociocultural Disadvantage: Some Problems of Policy and Intervention Research

Isn’t It Yet Time for Indian Government to Have a Behavioral Science Unit?

Journal	Data powered by TypesetPsychological Studies
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetSpringer Science and Business Media LLC
ISSN	0033-2968
Open Access	No