Unity of the Individual and the Collective

This chapter undertakes a conceptual analysis of the relationship between the individual and the collective with a view to understanding the processes and conditions, which bring about ‘unity’ of the two within diverse cultures. The individual is seen as being constituted by several types of selves, which seek unity with several types of collectives. The chapter discusses the processes and factors that explain how a collective comes to inhabit the individual, and individual the collective. Another question that is examined is how certain processes and cultural contexts create permeable and impermeable boundary conditions between self and the other, between the individual and the collective. The chapter draws from the discourses and approaches in disciplines other than psychology.

Religious Behaviour

Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this chapter shows that religion continues to provide meaning to human life world and is intertwined in daily individual, social, economic, and political activities. The religious beliefs relate to world-views, practices, and identities. Of course, religious practices and meanings do change over a period of time. The diversity and plurality of religious identities present in contemporary India are linked with the presence of two diametrically opposed dimensions of social life, that are, existence of sharing and coexistence as well as devastating violence, hatred, and discrimination. In recent years, the social life in India is characterized by sporadic incidents of communal violence, yet pilgrimages continue to be the social spaces where people of diverse religions and faiths intermingle and maintain peace and harmony.

The Media Environment

The new media is characterized by the convergence of technologies that allow information to be acquired, sorted, packaged and transmitted in multiple ways. This chapter focusses on how new media use has provided an opportunity to young people and affected their everyday lives. It also draws attention to the risk behaviours among young people associated with excessive television viewing. Some of the examples include physical and mental health issues around aggression, cyberbullying, addiction, violence, obesity, and loss of values. The empowerment potential of new media tools and technologies for adolescent self-identity is also examined. The problem of accessibility to new media and the increasing socio-economic divide are also examined. The issue of media policies for regulation vs. human rights is also discussed. The authors note the paucity of research in this area and indicate the need for further research.

Socialization and Parenting

This chapter offers a theoretical and empirical perspective on socialization and parenting in the Indian cultural context. It critically examines the role of gender role expectations, micro ecology of family, and maternal employment in child development. The mediating effects of availability of resources, inconsistency in experiences of care, and availability of other nurturing caregivers and participation of fathers are also examined. It is observed that the parent–adolescent relationship is becoming more democratic, with parents participating actively in adolescents’ lives. Overall, research on socialization reflects positive trends such as the steady growth of culturally sensitive perspectives and attempts to engage with social change influences. However, the focus on middle-class contexts has precluded understanding of cultural diversity. It is concluded that further studies on the interplay of tradition and modernity, shifting power balance in parent–child relationship, and parenting across life span are warranted.

Identity Discourse

The present chapter provides an understanding of the process of identity construction in a pluralistic society, its contestation, and its implications for intergroup harmony. Identity construction does not occur in a vacuum; there are personal and social factors that play a major role. The process of identity construction may involve negotiations and at times contestations, which provide a context wherein personal and social identities can be understood. The chapter discusses the nature, antecedents, and challenges in identity construction and attempts to delineate how multiple identities can coexist and augur for a harmonious society. The understanding of pluralities of human identity is important for harmony. With multiple identities, the scope for sharing common ground increases and the boundaries between groups become more porous. It is the sharing of spaces between groups that offer an opportunity for intergroup harmony today.

Family, Identity, and the Individual in India

As a universal social institution, the family has always attracted much academic interest in multiple areas of study. This chapter examines the theory of family and explores family life in India. In order to provide an account of the Indian family in its multiple manifestations with its due place in academia, a critical examination of various theoretical perspectives on family is offered. It is argued that the empirical research on Indian families as settings for the care of children—its most important function—can be used to develop a theoretical framework to study families worldwide. By applying the varieties of family structures observed, it is argued that the predominantly one-adult, one-child paradigm, which is the foundation for mainstream developmental psychology, is found in only a few families. Thus, findings of research on Indian families can inform mainstream theory and discourse about family structure and function, and make an important contribution.

Personality Studies in India

Personality, being one of the core areas of psychological enquiry, has been approached from diverse perspectives. It is deployed in psychological literature at different levels: as a school of thought; as a perspective; and as a configuration of psychological dispositions of an individual. Against this backdrop, the present chapter examines the progress of the field in the country during the last one decade. In addition to updating conceptual and methodological developments in contemporary personality research, this chapter brings out the relevance of culture in conceptualizing the construct of personality and its assessment. In particular, the chapter critically evaluates the progress made in a variety of studies carried out in academia and brings out the conceptual richness of various indigenous personality concepts and theories. Finally, some issues for further research are highlighted to make personality research a culturally relevant and applied area of enquiry.